Beyond Centuries: The Cursed Sorcerer
by fleets
Summary: Undergoing a major rewrite as Rend see profile . Read this version at your own risk see profile for details . Vaati and Link were meant to destroy each other, not work together! An unthinkable situation, however, forces them to call a momentary truce.
1. Winds gather

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters and Zelda plotlines. I DO own the yet unnamed girl. Please do not use without permission .

A.N.: To dispel confusion, this begins at the end of FSA and has influences from the manga.

**Green:** 'Saves the day' general hero

**Blue:** Aggressive, hot-headed

**Red:** Timid and clumsy

**Vio:** Perceptive, keen

**Main Zelda cast:** Link (duh), Vaati, Ganondorf, Zelda. More to follow.

**I WILL TRY TO AVOID MARY SUENESS!!** becuase I don't like reading about them too.

I would also like to say that the first four chapters are more of an intro to get the story going, so you might go, "What the heck?" at first. It gets better (honest!). We'll see more of Vaati and Link and less of my OC after Chapter 5. The OC is just there to set the scene, so if you don't like reading about OCs, don't worry! Ok, shutting up now. Just, read. :)

Start reading!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Winds gather**

They say that there was once a legendary blade forged by the Minish that sealed away the evil of Hyrule. There is another legend of a sorcerer who succeeded in releasing the evil held by the sword, conquering the kingdom, and obscuring the land in darkness. Though a hero was able to defeat the sorcerer using the Four Sword, the consequences of the sorcerer's actions could not be prevented.

And now, centuries have passed and the sorcerer has risen again. A hero has stepped up once more with the Four Sword, but neither will be prepared for the result of the consequences that have extended beyond the centuries, itching to repay what had occurred years ago…

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Four figures stood calmly in the face of the approaching storm, each gripping the hilt of identical swords. Save for the color of their tunics, they were oddly identical themselves.

"Let's end this." Red, Vio, and Blue nodded at Green's words.

"You cannot defeat me!" A monstrous winged eye screeched as it made a mad dash towards them. It had already sustained heavy damage from the prolonged fight, and it was obvious it was weakening with its ever increasing reckless attacks, desperate to finish the fight quickly. "I am the greatest sorcerer of all time!" A powerful blast of wind issued from the beast.

The eye cursed as it saw the foursome roll nimbly out of its wake, and make a running dash towards it. _I can't…move._ Its look of confusion quickly turned to horror, and then panic, as it struggled to recover energy from its last attack. _No….I..I am the greatest, I am…Vaati._ Then it was met with darkness.

Green had been ready to strike Vaati when something hit his side and sent him sprawling near the edge of the Palace of Winds.

"Ugh"

"What…"

"Nnn…, hey, is everyone alright?"

Green rubbed his head as he saw the others had been knocked back with him as well. Something wasn't right. "Something isn't right."

Vio. Perceptive as always.

"What do you mean? And we should watch out for Vaati, he's going to…"

"Vaati's not going to be able to cause us harm." Vio abruptly cut Red off, and waved a hand over to where the rampaging monster had been knocked out cold. "That wasn't him, whoever hit us. But I'm guessing it wasn't one of his goons, either, considering they downed him, too."

The four fell silent. Green uneasily scanned his surroundings, then, "You there, come out where we can see you or we're going to have to force you to come out." The other three turned their heads to where Green pointed. A slim form quietly walked out from behind some rubble a few feet away from Vaati, crossed its arms and watched stonily from its vantage.

"What do you want?" it had a feminine and otherworldly voice.

"That's what we should be asking you," Blue stepped forward, sword raised.

The stranger took a step forward, revealing a young woman with disconcertingly blue eyes, clad in some form of black armor the four had never seen before. A smirk crept on her lips, and she tilted her head to the side, "Fine, I'll tell you." A pause, then a sickening _crack_ as the air above the palace bent inwards and ripped. "…But after you clean up what's going to come through that portal."

The girl let out an impatient sigh as she watched mounting shock appear on the wielders of the Triforce of Courage. A gigantic hand had made its way out of the portal and was attempting to break a larger hole. "What? YOU!" Blue glared at her.

She raised both hands and shook her head, "Whoa, that wasn't me smurf boy. You've been fighting your sub-boss all this time, the real deal is coming right now and I had nothing to do with it." She casually tossed her navy hair from her face, shrugged, and took a few paces back away from them. "Don't bring the fight near me, ok? I only volunteered myself to battle Part 1, not Part 2." The head of a boar roared through the portal. "I'll be watching from the sidelines," a step back, "don't worry, I'm sure you guys can slaughter that pig easily," another step back, "I'm rooting for you." She gave them an unconvincing thumbs-up, and ran behind a pillar.

"Why that arrogant little…"

"Blue, now's not the time," Green put a hand on his shoulder as he watched the beast manage to pull itself out of the portal.

"But we can't trust her!"

"We'll find her when we get this fight over with."

"She might be the real boss she talked about!"

"Blue, let's just leave thi…"

"Don't you Blue me! She…she called me a smurf!"

"………………….Blue, we don't even know what a smurf _is_."

"I don't care. It didn't sound nice."

Vio rolled his eyes, "Can you two children focus on the fight?" The new boss landed with an impressive crash in front of the heroes and began to spin an outrageously large trident in a dangerous circle. "Like, right now?"

XXXXXXXXX

The girl snuck carefully around the pillar back to where Vaati was still fallen, making sure the boar had its attention towards the others. She ducked as bits of debris fell from the beast swinging its trident down on Red, who barely missed it with a yelp.

"Ok Vaati, I guess saving you once from those guys wasn't enough to guarantee your safety, huh?" she began to prepare a spell. "If you get squashed by big Ganon now, well, I don't think I'd be able to say I'd repaid you in any way, don't you?" Blue runes began to appear around her wrists and slowly began to glow softly. "So let's just get you back to a form that I can actually move easier than this heavy fat ball you are right now." The dark eye began to glow as well, and in a second there was an extremely pale Hylian in purple in its place. She waited for a few more minutes until she was sure Ganon's weapon wouldn't come near her, and commenced dragging Vaati to much safer ground.

She could run away right then and leave the four to fight by themselves, she told herself, but she had a feeling that it would be worthwhile to keep her word about telling them about her. Something in the winds told her she wasn't going to be able to watch in the sidelines anymore, whether she liked it or not.

OXXXXXXXXO


	2. Final Boss

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters and Zelda plotlines. I DO own the yet unnamed girl. Please do not use without permission .

**Chapter 2: Final Boss**

Red braced himself to dodge another swipe from the enormous trident the monster held. It seemed…familiar. He was sure he had never in his entire life faced a beast such as the one he was currently trying to fight, but he was sure he had seen it somewhere. But where?

The boar-like beast laughed, its voice dripping with menace, "I did not think Vaati would be so weak to be defeated by the likes of you, or that idiot Shadow Link." Its eyes glinted, "To think the King of Darkness would have to get rid of you, think of it as an honor."

Red felt the color drain from his face. Ah. No wonder he'd seen it before, in a tapestry at the Royal Palace. Wonderful.

"The…the King of…Ganon?" He felt his voice grow smaller.

"How are we going to beat this thing?" Green, in a similar state of shock.

Blue managed to find an opening of attack. "Hyaaaaaa!" _Sching_ "Dammit!" Blue barely scrambled back out of reach before Ganon could turn around to impale him.

"I can't damage him!"

"Look out!" _Boom_! Ganon had released three energy balls in their direction.

"Vio, I hope you've thought of something to take him down!" Green shouted through the din. He was dismayed to see Vio shaking his head.

"He's…protected by something, a dark aura. Unless we get rid of it we're just wasting our time."

"How can we get rid of it?"

Green wished he hadn't asked, for a look of defeat passed over the purple warrior's face. "I don't think we can, Green." They were blown off their feet again by another blast that had nearly hit them. If they could be thankful for anything, it was Ganon's poor aim. But Green knew their luck wouldn't last forever.

Green coughed up dust, and tried to look for the others. Red was spread-eagled beside him, dazed by the last attack. Before he could worry about Red, however, another sight startled him. Blue had pinned Vio against the palace walls, his back towards Ganon, and was angrily seething at Vio.

"What," fumed Blue, "kind of a talk is that?" Vio blinked, surprised by his partner's outburst. "We've come all this way, ALL THIS FRIGGIN' WAY JUST TO BE KILLED BY A GIANT PIG?!" he screamed.

Vio looked down at his feet, "Look, Blue, there's nothing we can…"

"Shut up," he glared, "we've never given up. We're not going home until we've beaten this guy to a bloody pulp. Don't you dare give up on us just yet."

"…Ok," Vio felt Blue relax his grip, "sorry."

"Right. Come on, let's get this over with."

"GUYS, DUCK!"

"Huh?" Blue and Vio narrowly missed being sliced in half by the trident that whistled over their heads and smashed the wall behind them.

"Ok, Blue, I appreciate your heroism but how, exactly, do you propose to defeat the King of Darkness?" Vio hissed as he ran with Blue towards Green and Red, away from the sharp point of the trident.

"Um…hold on, I'm thinking."

"…………you know, if we weren't in a life-threatening situation right now I'd tell you to just trust me and give up on that line of thought."

"Hey, I thought I told you no more talks on giving up."

"And that's exactly why I'm not telling you to stop trying a feat you were never really good at."

"Hey!"

Vio shrugged, "You brought this upon yourself. Now start thinking before we all die."

XXXXXXXXXXX

The strange girl watched the fray from a distance, occasionally glancing back at the sorcerer who once used to be a murderous giant black eye. She was sure her spell had worked, and would keep the mage relatively harmless for several days.

"Hard to believe you were the one who released me from my prison," she said to no one in particular. She wrinkled her nose. "You're practically a girl." Here was one of the most powerful mages of Hyrule, with long shiny purple bangs to make Nayru jealous and a dress…well, the Hero of Time claimed it was a _tunic_ but, whatever.

She rested her chin on her hands as she saw the panicked heroes run away frantically from Ganon. "But then again, it's hard to believe those four wield the Triforce of Courage." Ganon seemed to find it hilarious, seeing supposedly courageous heroes running from their foe. She could hear him laughing.

_Those four should have no problems defeating Ganon, right? _thought the girl. _They're the Heroes of Time for Din's sake, they're supposed to WIN. _She frowned as Red tripped and fell, now an easy target for Ganon.

"If they keep this up,"she sighed, "I'm going to have to go help them." Her expression hardened. _And it's better for me, for everyone, that I don't get involved. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Red! Get out of there!"

"Gahahaha! And they call you the Heroes of Time! If I knew you I was facing you weaklings I wouldn't even have had to go through the trouble of siphoning power off of Vaati!" Ganon raised his trident. "In fact, I'm surprised my moblins couldn't even get rid of you!"

"Red! What are you doing?!"

Red seemed transfixed on the spot, but he wasn't staring at Ganon. He was staring at something beyond Ganon.

"I'll thoroughly enjoy killing you four times, Link. Now, die." Just as Ganon was bringing down his trident for the death blow, a beam of white light hit him from behind. "What? Who?" Distracted, Ganon whirled around to face the newcomer.

Green ran up to Red, "Come on, Red, move it! What's wrong with you?" He grabbed Red's arm and tried to get him to stand up.

"Princess Zelda…?"

"WHAT?" Green jerked his head toward the source of the light. Sure enough, the young princess of Hyrule, her golden hair billowing around her, was defiantly staring down the King of Darkness.

"Link!" she called, "I've disabled his barriers!"

Blue ran up to Green and Red, followed closely by Vio. "It's time for a little payback, don't you think?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_This is not good. _The girl's knuckles whitened as she tensed. It appeared Zelda had been freed by Ganon from her prison when his trident smashed down the palace walls earlier, and sensing the dark aura she had conjured a white magic spell to disable it. Green, Blue, Vio, and Red seemed to think they now had the upper hand.

The girl knew, however, that their sudden advantage may disappear just as suddenly, and she doubted Ganon wouldn't have thought the same thing. _Come on you four, _she gritted her teeth, _wake up! Can't you see your new situation is still as precarious as before?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ganon looked thoughtfully at the princess. Then he smiled. Things were working in his favor today.

He chuckled as the princess tried to keep her barrier breaking spell in place, "Princess Zelda, why, I didn't think you'd come to me so easily with your Triforce of Wisdom." The princess paled as he approached.

"Link?"

"That's right. I stand between your heroes," he spat the last word, "and you. Who's going to save you now?"

The four Links, before holding triumphant expressions were quickly enveloped in a cloud of doom. They broke out running. _Oh goddesses, we're not going to make it, _Green felt blood leave his head when Ganon's trident struck the ground with a resounding crash.

OXXXXXXXXXXXO


	3. You Owe Me

A.N.: Ok, I felt bad about not submitting more chapters even though I had them done, so here's a two chapter bonus. Somehow, I felt only two chapters didn't do the story justice in explaining where it planned to go.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters and Zelda plotlines. I DO own Opal. Please do not use without permission .

**Chapter 3: You owe me**

The trident crashed into the ground, the Palace of Winds shaking at its impact. Green didn't want to see what remained of the princess.

"I'll…I'll kill you Ganon," he felt tears forming, along with a rage that steadily grew with each drop that left his face.

"What, Zelda? How did you get here?" Green nearly fell in surprise at Vio's comment.

"Wha…What…Zelda, how did you…why are you…you're alive!" Green spluttered. Blue and Red stood speechless, not believing but wanting to believe their eyes. Vio checked to see if she was alright.

"Why, yes, I seem to be…" the princess looked as startled as they, "the air seemed to…to…rip…" she said carefully, "and then I came here…"

Vio looked up sharply, "So you didn't use a spell?"

"No, I've never experienced anything like it. It wasn't like any warping magic I know." She straightened herself up. "We'll discuss this later. Right now, we've got a king to overthrow." And she began her white magic spell again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The girl's shoulders slumped in relief. She kneaded her hands together, and then wiped a bead of sweat on her forehead. _That was close._ She didn't want to use her powers too much because of its dangerous potential, and she especially wanted to avoid using it in front of Ganon, who was never really good at staying dead.

If he decided she was worth using, then she'd be in for eons of trouble. She only hoped he hadn't noticed anything strange.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ganon glared furiously at the empty space where Zelda used to stand. Something had interrupted him again! His fury simmered down as he went over what had just occurred. He remembered seeing a portal open, but there was something…different about it. It wasn't the normal swirls beyond the hole. Heck, it wasn't even one of those warps where the person just vanished! It was like there was an entire world beyond it. It didn't…he paused, wait. _It didn't even feel like magic…_

Heightening his awareness, Ganon sensed another presence watching the fight. _There. _She was barely noticeable, but he could just make out her face. _I've got you now. _

Ganon's reverie was interrupted with an intense flaring pain at his side. "Gaaah!" The four heroes had launched their own attack now that Ganon no longer had an impervious barrier.

"You think you can beat me?" He roared. He was angry. He was annoyed. "Grrrrah!"

As though the appearance of Zelda had given the four a new hope, they dodged the beast's attacks with effortless agility. Ganon became confused with the onslaught of four swords, and he launched a desperate blast of energy at his enemies.

"Crap…" mouthed Red. Each of them was facing a very large sphere of energy that they couldn't dodge.

"Attack it!" Barked Vio.

"Are you CRAZY?!" Blue went wide-eyed at his comrade's words.

They swung their swords, and a glow lighted each blade's path as the power of the force crystals ignited the steel. The spheres made contact with the metal and…

"rebounded…"

"Wow."

"Good job Vio."

They now stood over the unconscious king, a ragged breathing mass that had been knocked out by its own attack. Zelda came over to them and gave a short nod.

"I guess we _really _end this." Green looked at the hilt of the Four Sword, quietly thinking of an adventure-less, but more importantly peaceful, future. Even the hot-headed Blue looked solemn.

"Come on, before he wakes up."

They landed a final blow to their nemesis, and watched as each of their Four Swords absorbed the darkness, getting ready to seal away the evil king.

"…Eeeeew."

"I totally agree with you Red, I really don't want to hold my sword anymore…"

"Oh, knock it off you two. It can't be as bad as the time we defeated the Moldorm."

Zelda walked over, laughing lightly, "Even though there are four of you, you're all really Link, huh?" she came over and took Green's hand in hers, "I guess we'd better get going then."

Red, Blue, and Vio frowned at the partial treatment, but let it slide. They were the same people after all, and now that this ordeal was over they were going to merge into one pers…

"Wait, we forgot someone." Blue hopped over to the place where the strange girl had last been.

"That's right. Though I was somewhat hoping I'd stay forgotten." The girl stood up from where she had been watching, applauding. "Good job with the extermination. The show was impressive; you had me wringing my hands at several points. Glad to see you're all ok." She grinned and gave a nod toward the princess in acknowledging her presence.

"We're taking you with us to Hyrule," Vio stated. "We'd like to know several things."

"Sure, go ahead. I know I seem suspicious."

"Very."

"Oh, so the blue boy doesn't like me?" She feigned a frown.

"No. I think we should tie you up, just to be safe."

"…that won't be necessary."

Zelda stepped forward. "How do we know we can trust you? You also seem to hold a dark presence behind where you stand."

"That could be me, true. But it's more than likely it's," She jumped over a fallen pillar and came back dragging a figure in lavender, "him."

"Eh, who's that?" Green tried to get a better look.

Zelda's expression became stern. "I repeat my earlier question, how can we trust you? Especially now that you have one of the most dangerous people alive with you?"

Zelda turned to Green. "The one she holds is none other than Vaati, in his Hylian form that he used to begin his takeover of Hyrule several centuries ago."

"That's him?" Blue looked skeptically at the pale figure.

"Yeah, I was disappointed too." The girl prodded the prone mage with her foot.

"Can you please answer our question? And perhaps tell us who you are?" Vio's voice began to show an edge of annoyance. "We're getting impatient."

She looked up. "Don't worry. I'll tell you about myself when you take me to Hyrule," she glanced at Blue, "without being tied up."

"Oh, you can call me Opal, by the way." She hurriedly added, seeing the look on everyone's face.

"For the last time, you haven't answered our question."

"…I don't ask you to trust me," she began softly, "I never even intended to stick around until the end of the battle but," she waved her hand in exasperation, "you four didn't seem cut out to defeat old Ganon."

"…So, you're saying we can't trust you."

She laughed, her mocking tone returning, "Oh no. I'm leaving it all up to you. Just remember though," she grinned, "you owe me one, your Highness."

"I…what?" Zelda looked surprised, and then a look of understanding passed her face. She began slowly, "were you the one who…?"

"Saved you from Ganon by altering the dimensions a little bit and moving one piece of the world to another so you could be safe by the Heroes of Time? I'd say definitely yes." She turned to address Green, "I don't think your princess would be too happy if you mistreated the one who saved her."

"Okay, but what do we do with a murderous mage?"

"I know you have every reason to be worried, but I ask you to trust me on this one point. He won't be able to use magic until I disable the spell I cast on him, and he'll stay asleep for several days."

"I don't know…he's a pretty good magic user…"

"I haven't asked you to trust me on anything else besides this. It's worth a shot."

"Confident, aren't we?"

Blue put a hand up to his face, "I think…we should just get back to Hyrule," he sighed as he saw Opal's expression, "without tying her up."

OXXXXXXXXXO


	4. Shades of Grey

A.N.: How am I doing? Good? Bad? Great? Awful? Let me know! :).

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters and Zelda plotlines. I DO own Opal. Please do not use without permission .

**Chapter 4: Shades of Grey**

"Princess Zelda, we can leave my interrogation for another day if you feel tired."

Zelda wearily eyed Opal. "No, I think the matters concerning you are too important and possibly dangerous to leave for another afternoon." She caught her breath. Just for a fleeting moment, she had seen a look of sadness pass over the other girl's face when she had spoken the word "dangerous."

"Fine. It's your choice if you want to listen me after all those hours you spent talking and explaining to those dreadfully boring and dim officials." Opal had recovered her usual character in a second.

"Please, Opal, just stay patient until Link comes back from the Four Sword Temple. He has every right to be present at this hearing as do I."

Opal huffed, and decided to occupy herself by looking angrily at the passive guard that watched her every move.

Link had gone to return to the temple to complete the seal that held Ganon in the Four Sword. Namely, he had to return the sword to its original pedestal, thereby fusing the entities Green, Red, Blue, and Vio into one person.

The guard began to grow uneasy at Opal's glaring. He gave in. "Look, miss. Just be glad we didn't decide to throw you into jail scheduled for a hanging like that Vaati."

"You can't hang me, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You protected Hyrule's most wanted criminal."

"And Hyrule's most esteemed princess. What do you say to that?"

The guard looked unsure of himself. "In that case, we'll probably just keep you in jail."

"Keep me in jail? You underestimate me."

"You underestimate Hyrule." Link had appeared by the guard's side.

"Link! You're back and safe. How are you?" Zelda stood up and signaled the guards to leave. Opal scowled, but looked relieved that the watchful eyes were finally going to go away.

"It's a bit…weird. Having only one of myself with me," he gave a half-hearted laugh, "I'll get used to it." After he offered a seat to the princess, Link rounded on Opal. "So, I hope we'll get the full explanations now? No more games, no more dodging the questions, full, clean, answers?"

"Sure, do you think I'll hide anything from the Hero of Time?" Opal made her way towards a chair.

"I'm not even going to begin answering that one."

She grinned. "Let's start then, with a question. How familiar are you with the Picori festival that took place during the first attack of Vaati?"

Link looked towards Zelda for help. Zelda nodded, "If I remember correctly, Vaati had turned the princess of Hyrule to stone and had released monsters across Hyrule."

"You know your history well, your Highness," Opal said with approval. "Do you happen to remember how the monsters were released?"

Zelda frowned as she tried to recollect such esoteric trivia of the past. "There was a box…"

Link grew impatient. "Look, Opal, would you tell us outright the facts? I said no more games."

Opal looked disappointed. "Very well, Link, I apologize. I should've assumed my questions would be rather boring for someone uneducated on the history of Hyrule." Link growled, but he said nothing as he would only be giving another delay for Opal to use.

"In any case, princess Zelda, you're right again. There was a box. A box full of monsters and evil sealed by the ancient Picori blade. That blade is the blade you were wielding only moments before," she looked at Link, "The Four Sword."

"Only the winner of the swordsmanship tournament would be allowed to touch the sacred blade. Vaati had won, and had pulled the sword from its resting place and released the monsters inside," she looked up at the ceiling, as though contemplating whether she should continue or not, "…and me as well."

"So you felt you needed to repay the sorcerer for releasing you from your prison" Zelda concluded. Looking closely, she noticed for the first time that Opal's eyes were not quite human; the pupils were slit like a demon's.

"You don't know what it was like in there. I was grateful when I was let out. I couldn't really help him when he was first sealed, but I vowed to help when he returned."

"………Just how old are you?"

Opal shot a look at Link, "That's a pretty rude question to ask a lady."

"You're a monster. You don't really count as a 'lady'."

The silence that followed the remark made Link question his intelligence for making it.

"…Okay, that's a fair question," Link let out an inward sigh. He still didn't know how much harm the girl could cause. "I've stopped counting years, but I think it's safe to say I'm well over several hundred."

The previous silence had made Link uneasy, and his hand strayed toward his new sword. Opal noticed. "What are you going to do, Link? Are you going to feel more justified about striking me down now that you know I'm just like the rest of the beasts you've been slaying?"

Zelda and Link remained quiet. Opal's light attitude had gone.

The blue eyes swerved from one face to the other. Opal looked at them accusingly, "What would you know? Would you even believe that I've changed from what I used to be, centuries ago, who took pride in the number of villages she burned down? Obliterated? Blew up?"

Link gripped his sword. Opal didn't look entirely sane.

"Of course not. I'm just the same old monster. I can't change. Always was and always will be evil. Go on then, Link, stab me with that sword."

Link didn't know what to do. "I..." he eyed his sword. The situation changed when someone asked you to stab them.

Opal raged, "Link! How hard is it to kill another monster!?" She made as though to stab herself, then turned abruptly around and began to cry.

Zelda walked over and carefully put a hand on her shoulder. She couldn't imagine what the girl had gone through. Link stood up and made to the window; what Opal had said somewhat disturbed him.

Opal was making an effort to calm down. "After…after the incident with Vaati," she continued, "I was lucky I could make myself look Hylian. I could blend in, be unnoticed." She waved Zelda's hand away, "Before I only knew how humans could be greedy. Some as evil as us. But when I was forced to live in their community, I saw something I didn't want to see."

Link began to draw circles in the dust by the window.

"I saw they could be kind. Even to me. Me, who had slaughtered them. Of course I knew they weren't aware that I had been a murderer, but it was…" she shook her head and heaved a sigh. "I realized I had been grossly wrong. That is why I will never lend my powers to Ganon."

Zelda found this to be the moment to speak. "Your powers, what are they? I'm sorry to be so abrupt but it's nothing I've encountered before."

"You do have a right to know," Opal looked down at her feet, "I can disturb space and bits of time." She looked up at Zelda, "And that is why I may not use them unless in extreme circumstances." Her gaze told Zelda that it was a topic she should never mention again.

"Your secret is safe with us." Opal looked grateful, and for the first time in a while she genuinely smiled.

"I'm going to go out now." Link abruptly opened the door and excused himself.

Opal turned, puzzled at Link's sudden departure. Zelda, on the other hand, had an idea why Link had to leave.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Why did she have to do that?_ Link absently banged his fist on the castle walls. _How does she expect me to fight now? _A list of monsters came up in his head. _How, when I see that monsters might actually have a conscience?_ He had believed everything was simple before. Good and Bad, Right and Wrong, White and Black, Hylians and monsters. Now there was a world of grey. _Why did she have to go and ruin it, why did she have to cry?_

OXXXXXXXXXO


	5. Vaati

A.N.: Look who's getting impatient for updates :P. I just submitted this story today and I'm already up to Ch. 5 where we finally meet Vaati! Things are going to get started now, yahaa! cough er...sorry. Please Read if Readers should exist!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters and Zelda plotlines. I DO own Opal. Please do not use without permission .

**Chapter 5: Vaati **

Opal looked quizzically at where Link had stood moments before. "What's got to him? I didn't say anything offensive."

"No, you did not. But I believe he saw something no warrior would ever want to see."

"I'm going to talk to him." Opal stood up, and quickly rubbed her face to get rid of signs of her earlier outburst. "Princess Zelda, may I ask you a favor?" Zelda nodded. She noticed how Opal had dropped her rude tone, and decided to give the girl a chance. "Can you forget this ever happened? I never," she grimaced, "cried?"

So proud. Zelda smiled, "Of course, if it makes you feel better. But crying is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm an old hag, I should know better." It looked as though Opal was going to sneer, until she caught herself. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to people…"

"I understand. Just try to be careful and open up more. Leave your cynicism behind when you look around you and you will find something much more beautiful."

Opal silently made her way out of the room, but not before giving a final word. "Thank you, your Highness." There was an absence of an element that had been previously paired with the title; this time, there was no mockery.

As the door shut and Zelda was left alone in the conference room, she thought about what she had seen in the past hour. In different circumstances, she would not have believed the girl that had left the room was a demon, but a look at her eerie eyes told her Opal's story may have been true.

Still. She had seen all the emotions attributed to humans in that…monster. Happiness, grief, guilt, loneliness, shame, insecurity, loyalty, pride, and finally even regret.

Link had seen it, too, and she worried for him. When a warrior sees humanity in the enemy, he loses all that had justified his victories. He can no longer think he is the only side who fights for justice.

XXXXXXXXX

"Link! Wait, I want to talk."

Link frowned when he saw Opal running up to him. She was the last person in the world he wanted to see right now. He pretended not to hear and continued to move quickly away from her direction.

"I said WAIT UP."

Link stopped. "We've talked enough, and frankly, you're the last person in all of Hyrule _including Ganondorf_ I want to meet right now, so please go away."

He waited for her usual arrogant comeback, but was surprised by the gravity of her tone.

"I know what I said in the conference room bothered you, but as a fighter myself I want to give you some advice." Blue eyes pierced him to the spot.

"You've never thought about it, have you? That the enemies you've been fighting before may have seen you the same way you have seen them?"

Link paled. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Just wait, will you?" She grabbed his arm as he tried to escape. "I came from both sides, alright? I was a monster, then I was converted to Hylian culture." Her grip tightened, "I'm no more a monster than you, Zelda, those idiot officials, even that potted plant!"

"I'm not a monster, Link. But that doesn't make Ganon good or the stalfos who murder children human. I want you to know this: that while you're a fighter you stand by what _you _believe is the right thing to do." She looked into his eyes for some sign of understanding.

"What I believe is right?"

Opal stared at him, and suddenly pushed him away. "Oh, Link, you're such an idiot. No wonder the Triforce of Wisdom failed to choose you."

"What?"

"Should I put it into simpler vocabulary? Link, you better not turn into Chu-chu Jelly on us just because you begin to have delusions that Tektites want to be friends with you."

"…ok, what?"

Opal put her hands on her hips and looked skyward, "I'm just saying don't think about it too much. They don't call you a hero for nothing."

Link looked thoughtful. "I guess…I guess I know what you're saying."

"Do you feel better now?"

"I think so. Thanks…Opal."

"Good, because I don't think you should worry your royal girlfriend by brooding."

"What?! I'm going to get you for that!"

But she had already gone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Three days later, Hyrule was peaceful and back to normal again. The market was filled with eager merchants, the royal guards strutted around the city, and children chased stray dogs around the central square. The occasional sighting of a bokoblin caused some excitement, but most of the claims turned out to be pranks by publicity seekers.

Opal had arranged to stay for five nights before she left the castle grounds. She planned to leave much earlier, however. She had made a vow, and she was not going to go back on it. _Zelda, Link, you're going to hate me for this_, she thought as she warped from her quarters to the dungeon cells.

Vaati was kept in the highest security cells, which was, quite frankly, pretty easy to sneak out of. Hyrule had never had a problem with high profile criminals; they were either along the level of Ganon, in which case immediate death was required, or they were petty thieves who weren't worth the tax funds to be kept fed in the cells.

Opal found herself right where she had planned; in front of Vaati's cell. She despised warping because it meant using her powers, but she had no choice as watchful guards had been kept posted outside her doors.

Her spell should be wearing off just about,

"Ughh…my head."

Now.

Vaati sat up uneasily. "What the hell…? I thought I died…"

"You're welcome."

Vaati's red eyes spun sharply towards the voice. They narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Someone you helped a long time ago. However unintentional it was, I'm here to repay you."

"I don't need any help," he snapped. "Just tell me what's going on."

"I'll make it short since we don't have too much time to chit-chat. I stopped Link from sealing you in the Four Sword, but I had to bring you to Hyrule with a spell binding curse on you so they'd keep you alive."

"Get the curse off of me," he hissed.

"And risk the chance that you'd blow up Hyrule with me still in it? I'll pass." Opal shook her head. "How about I help you out of here and then I'll give you back your magic?"

Vaati muttered, "I kill you now or I kill you later for humiliating me, it doesn't make a difference."

"Was that a 'yes, I'll let you help me'?"

If eyes were weapons, Opal would have died in a nano-second.

"…Okay then, maybe I save your little ego and leave you to die."

"You obviously don't know who I am," Vaati snorted, "I'm the Sorcerer of Winds."

Opal leaned against the bars, amused. "They have you scheduled for your hanging. I should've known you wouldn't want to miss that. All of Hyrule would be watching; you're practically a celebrity."

Vaati stared disbelievingly at Opal, and then broke into maniacal laughter.

"Me? Hang? What are you, stupid?" He choked and fell on the floor holding his sides, "I'm going to die from laughter, oh goddesses, I control the very AIR."

Opal didn't look amused anymore.

Vaati hiccupped, and continued, "I can't _hang_. I could just refuse to let gravity take me, or even better, I could just blast the entire audience away. They would love the fireworks for sure."

Opal coughed, "Excuse me but, what are you, stupid?" Vaati stopped laughing, confusion appearing on his face. "Remember the curse? You control the very air? I think they'd make you the biggest laughingstock in villain history."

A shadow passed over Vaati's face. He experimentally tried a simple break spell. Nothing, save for ominous blue runes that spiraled around his wrists like handcuffs.

"Have you sobered up yet? You're not the great sorcerer Vaati anymore. You're even worse off than the Wizrobes until you let me help you. And unless you agree, your ego's not the only thing that's going to end up dead."

"……Fine. I concede…just tell me what to do."

OXXXXXXXXXXO


	6. Possessed

A.N.: Seems like some of you are reading, good for you! Because I'm in such a swell mood that people aren't ignoring me after glancing at Chapter 1, I'm sending over another update. I'll promise to get another update in within 24 hours of a review submission. Actually, I might just submit anyway because I'm having fun. Whheeee caffeine, I'm HYPER TODAY.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Zelda related characters and Zelda plotlines. I DO own Opal. Please do not use without permission .

**Chapter 6: Possessed**

Vaati paced like a caged animal around the Palace of Winds castle hall. Opal had made herself comfortable on an ornate velvet couch, stretched and watched nonchalantly out the ceiling high windows.

Vaati stopped pacing. "Give me my magic back."

"Hm?"

"Give me my magic back," he repeated.

"Hm."

"Give me my magic back."

"Yawn."

"Give me my magic back."

"Oh look, there's a rare gold Chu over by that…"

"GIVE ME MY MAGIC BACK OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

A wall crumbled down somewhere in the palace.

"…Did you just say something?"

Vaati snarled. "You promised you'll give me my magic back once we were away from Hyrule."

"That's right. I'm grateful you released me after all. Remind me later, ok?"

Vaati's face shifted to a dangerous calm. "I'm going to leave this room, and when I come back you had better remove this curse off of me or you're going to regret ever saving me from that idiot Link."

Opal sighed, and she put her hands behind her head. "I've already explained to you why I can't give you your magic back yet. I thought you'd have the sense to see my rational."

"You mean why you _don't want to_ give it back to me."

She twirled her bangs around her finger. "You can rephrase it all you want, but the reasoning stays the same. It takes a lot of energy to warp long distances, and a route from your jail cell to the top of the Palace of Winds is very far," she observed her nails, "meaning I'm a bit worn out. If I remove the curse off of you, I'm not sure I'd be able to escape very far without you catching me and killing me like you so calmly stated a moment ago."

"That doesn't bother me so much."

"Yeah, well, it bothers _me._"

Vaati sneered. "Either way, if you become so worn out by a simple warping spell you're not going to stand a chance with me tired or not. Why don't we get this over with since the result is going to be the same?"

"Have you no gratitude? Aren't you thankful you won't have to suffer the most humiliating way a villain of your caliber could ever die? And my warping 'spell' isn't simple."

"I can't die from a piece of rope. I'm Vaati." He paused, and then gave a warm smile, "You know, I can teach you the most basic warping spell even a Redead can master. Why don't you get rid of my curse so I can…"

"Vaati, you can't really believe I'm _that_ stupid. And get rid of that smile, it's insincere and creepy as hell."

"……You're not very cute…"

"Just go occupy yourself with something, find a new hobby, anything! I'm tired." Opal rubbed her temples, _and I have a headache…wow, Vaati's a pain._ She scowled as another migraine shot through her skull.

Vaati's ears pricked. With the binding curse he couldn't sense magical disturbances as well as he used to, but he could make out that something was going on. If he could feel it with the binding curse, then it must be powerful.

"You, are you doing something?" Red eyes glanced suspiciously at the girl.

"I do have a name, and it's Opal," she shot. Her headache was getting worse. "Do I have to beat you out of here?" sweat began falling from her face.

He was somewhat startled by her increasing hostility, and became uneasy. Without his magic, Vaati was a helpless nobody.

"What are you still standing there for? Get out!" Opal tried to stand up, but suddenly collapsed to the floor. She screamed.

"If you're going to die I demand that you give me my magic back before you do!" Vaati grabbed the shoulders of the convulsing girl. _Don't you dare die on me,_ he hissed under his breath.

After several minutes she screamed again, and Vaati began to panic. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew that if something happened to this girl he could kiss his magic goodbye.

Her screams stopped as suddenly as they had begun. Vaati cautiously relaxed his hands on her shoulders and slumped on the floor in front of her in a daze. Opal had her head on her knees and she was breathing heavily.

He began carefully, "Are you…are you ok?"

She slowly lifted her head, and blue inhuman eyes met his.

Vaati sat stock still. "Can you get rid of my curse now? If this happens to you again…" he found it unnerving to be stared at so intensely; he let his sentence falter.

Mustering up courage, he began again, "I felt a magical disturbance before you started screaming," he backed up a little as the ice blue eyes narrowed, "I think…I'm thinking…," he froze.

O_h gods._

"I think someone…_erk_,"

"Possessed me? Perhaps."

Vaati's eyes widened at the point of a sword aimed at his throat. His gaze followed from the tip, to the hilt, to slender fingers, to eyes. But the eyes he remembered to be blue were blue no more, though they still held their demonic features. They were _yellow_.

"All right. Who are you?" he whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Opal was hearing voices in her head. She knew these symptoms, she was being possessed.

_Go on,_ it urged. _Kill him. _

No.

_He's no use to us. _

No.

_A weak mage. One defeated countless times by our enemy._

No.

_And even worse, a mage no more. Destroy him._

No.

_I was surprised by your abilities; you will be enough for my new plan. _The voice paused. _We will get rid of those who are useless. _

No.

_KILL HIM._

No, I have a vow to keep.

_Vows, promises, those things are there for us to break. Do it. NOW. _

Her mind was breaking. With her added fatigue from her warping, Opal saw how easy it was for the voice to take control of her. The sword she held shook.

N, no. I keep vows.

_You FOOL! I'll go there myself! Open a portal, to the Palace of Winds NOW. _

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati couldn't tell how long they both sat, frozen to the spot; he was trying his best to avoid provoking a sword stab, while she seemed to be thinking of something distant. Finally, Opal stood up.

"Yes, Lord Ganon."

Vaati felt as though Opal had decided to shish-kabob him with those words. _Ganon_. He had heard about the Gerudo from Opal, how Vaati had been used by the King of Darkness to amass power, how he had nearly succeeded in killing his nemesis Link, and how he had been sealed by the Four Sword.

_How had he escaped?!_

Even the great Sorcerer of Winds couldn't escape the confines of the Four Sword. How? No one surpasses Va…

"It seems my new pet couldn't kill you, Vaati." A dark man stepped out of a portal.

_What? I thought they said he was a giant pig?_

"How did you escape the Four Sword?"

Ganondorf laughed. "That little toy? The Four Sword isn't enough to keep me away from this world." He clenched his fists, "Rejoice, Vaati. The Four Sword is no more."

Vaati's left eye twitched. Did that mean he was beaten by this balding freak? Never!

"It seems the dear girl here thinks you're worth saving, no matter how useless and weak you are," Ganondorf chuckled and motioned toward Opal, dangerously gripping her sword. "I've decided to show you some mercy, Vaati. You deserve to celebrate the destruction of your prison. Opal, why don't you take this fool somewhere isolated so he can enjoy his time alone before I send him some friends?"

"Yes, Lord Ganon." Opal straightened up and readied a warp.

Ganondorf gazed coldly at the helpless mage. "Aren't you going to thank me, Vaati?"

"I hope you die painfully, Ganon."

The last thing Vaati saw of the Palace of Winds was Ganondorf's dark grin.

OXXXXXXXXO


	7. Ripples and Lizards

A.N.: Here's the upload within 24 hours as promised.

**Reily96:** This chapter is dedicated to you :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. I own Opal and Sir Gregory.

**Chapter 7: Ripples and Lizards**

"Stupid demon, stupid demon, stupid demon," Link muttered under his breath as he followed the Royal Guards. He had actually been looking forward to at least a month of non-action, but Opal had to go and ruin it by helping Vaati escape jail. And what a day it had been when they found out the mage had gone. Everyone except the guards had vanished from the streets, not even a merchant tried to force wares into his hands.

"All right men, we're going to go around Hyrule's southern fields. Watch out for the guays, and keep your eyes open for our escapees." The captain, Sir Gregory, waved a hand over to Link, "Link! I know you like to adventure on your own but we're working as a _team_ this time, understand?"

Link felt himself go red. Of course he didn't want to follow the Royal Guards; he could work twenty times faster alone.

"_Soldier_! As much as you're the Hero of Time you _will_ answer me!"

Ugh, that man can really speak in italics.

"Yes sir."

The captain turned, and proceeded to call out orders for the search team. Link fell to the back of the group, waiting for a chance to go search on his own.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati felt miserable. He had no bearings of where he could be, and without his magic he wasn't going to be able do much. He was probably somewhere in southern Hyrule, by the looks of the foliage. And then there was the problem of Ganondorf promising to send him "friends." Whoever they were, they probably weren't going to be very friendly.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't go back to Hyrule because they would just greet him with a noose. He also doubted he could walk idly into a village given his fame. For the first time in his life he began to regret wreaking havoc over the entire region; he was helpless and he had no one to turn to…

He angrily kicked up dirt. He _wasn't_ helpless, he _wasn't_ lost, and he _wasn't_ weak. He'll show them. They'll regret ever making a fool of him. The thought cheered him up. In the end, they'll cower at his feet.

But what about his current situation? Vaati grumbled. It hurt his pride to go dig a hole somewhere to make it through the night, or climb a tree. Oh no. Not climb. Climbing would remind him of his inability to use magic. He had to think of something quickly, however, because the sun was beginning to fall.

Pride or safety? He weighed his options. Before he had a chance to decide, however, he saw a ripple go through the air. He became alert and crouched next to a group of bushes. _I don't like this_. Another ripple; the landscape seemed to wave like a flag.

A few minutes later, the phenomena stopped. It seemed like nothing was going to happen, until Vaati heard a low rumbling growl and felt the air turn uncomfortably hot behind his neck. If this didn't scare him, the smell of rotting flesh sure caused goose-bumps to rise on his arms.

XXXXXXXXXX

Link had finally been able to split apart from the Royal Guards. It was silly how they had to search as a large mass, where the various _clank_ of their armor would act as a siren for fugitives. He knew why though, and he couldn't blame them: the guards were afraid of Vaati. Even though both Link and Princess Zelda had explained that Vaati was probably harmless, his name still managed to instill enough fear in the Hylians.

He stood on a boulder and looked around. "If I was a demonic girl or an ex-mage, where would I go?" Link shielded his face from the late-afternoon sun's glare. A strange movement caught his eye due north of him, and he heard someone yell. "That's a start." He jumped down and unsheathed his sword as he approached the commotion.

As he cautiously approached, he saw two monsters he had never seen before stalking something that was just out of his view. They had the appearance of large, green, bipedal lizards donning thin leather armor with an axe attached to their tails. One of them was wearing a skeletal mask.

"Get back! I'm the great Sorcerer Vaati! I'll spare you if you would just GET BACK GOD DAMN YOU!"

"Hisssssssss."

An almost comical scene was being played out before Link. As he went to get a better look, he saw the purple wind mage looking awfully ruffled with a stone in his right hand and a stick in his other, his trailing hat jammed lopsided on his head. The lizards had cornered him by a tree and were getting closer, trying to avoid the frantic swipes from the makeshift "sword."

One of the lizard monsters suddenly bit the stick and snapped it with a crunch; Vaati visibly jumped.

"Do you think I'm bluffing? This is your last chance before I blast you with my power!" Vaati valiantly tried to hide his fear. "Leave me be!" He threw his stone at the masked lizard that had decided to come closer.  
It shook its head, and then to the surprise of its partner and Vaati, it fell on the ground dead.

Vaati stared silently at the dead beast, and then steadied his gaze towards the remaining lizard with renewed confidence, "The same is going to happen to you if you don't leave now."

The lizard didn't have time to decide, for it was quickly felled by Link. "Sorry to break it to you, but you weren't the one who killed the first one."

"You," Vaati's voice was venomous.

"I'm here to take you back to Hyrule so they can hang you at the right date," Link eyed him up and down, "you look a right mess by the way."

"What makes you think I'm going to follow you to Hyrule?"

Link calmly walked over to Vaati and firmly grabbed his arm. "Well, for one thing, you're pretty weak without your magic." Link shushed Vaati's angry protests. "For another thing, it's either death at the gallows or being gored and bled to death by the local monsters. You'd probably prefer the gallows because it's much more painless and much, much quicker."

Vaati continued to struggle. "I'd rather have keese gradually pick away my flesh than have to face the shame of being defeated by rope!"

"Vaati! Would you just be a good little mage for once and follow me quietly back to Hyrule?"

"Never!"

It helped that Link was stronger, but progress was still slow as he half-dragged Vaati. This could take the whole night and maybe even until tomorrow afternoon before they reached the castle gates.

"Hey, Vaati? Do you know what those monsters were that attacked you? I've never seen them before."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…well?"

"………………I don't know."

Link grunted as he gave another tug at Vaati's arm. "And what happened to Opal? I assumed she would be with you if she freed you."

"She's possessed by Ganondorf."

"She's possessed by WHO?" Vaati was sent flying back when Link involuntarily released his hold. His expression changed to one who was trying to console a child who had seen a nightmare. "Vaati, that's impossible. He was perfectly sealed in the Four Sword."

Vaati gritted his teeth and rubbed his hand over the arm Link had held, "You did _not_ perfectly seal him in the Four Sword seeing how easily he managed to escape. I guess you weren't as thorough when you trapped him than when you trapped me?"

"But…"

"He cannot have escaped the Four Sword in a matter of days when it took me years to escape it. Unless you messed up somehow."

"But I sealed…"

"That Gerudo is NOT more powerful than me. Period. End of discussion," Link decided it wouldn't hurt to keep the mage happy with his illusions. Suddenly, a fierce ripple blew across the horizon, momentarily altering the landscape.

"…Link, as much as I hate you and would like to see you hurt, watch out for enemies. Last time that occurred those weird lizards appeared." Vaati picked up a stray stone. He didn't notice how Link had begun to stare at him in surprise.

"Vaati, you just grew a few feet taller…"

"What in blazes are you talking about?" Vaati whirled around and was struck speechless at the sight of Link. "Link, I didn't know you used magic." They both stood there for a while, and then slowly looked down at themselves.

They had both changed, but besides height, they couldn't quite explain exactly _what_ had changed. Link still wore his green tunic, brown boots, and green hat, but the green wasn't quite the same and the stitches appeared more prevalent. Vaati's attire was still mostly purple, but it appeared faded and coarse. The red jewel on his hat seemed to gleam a more ominous red, too.

"I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Ganondorf was behind this, whatever _this_ is," said Vaati.

Link thought for a while, a hand on his chin. "Vaati, I have a feeling something bad happened at Hyrule," he looked at the mage, "Can you cooperate with me so we can get back as soon as possible and figure out what's going on?"

"I still don't know why I should cooperate."

Link scratched his head, "You're right, you won't." He moved closer to Vaati and gave him a good whack behind his head. "I should've done this earlier," he said, as he hitched the unconscious Vaati over his shoulders and went back towards Hyrule.

OXXXXXXXO

**fleets**: You've guessed right if you thought Twilight Princess! We're moving away from the realm of Four Swords Adventures into the darker one of Twilight!

P.S. I'd like to improve my grammar. If you see anything that bothers you, please let me know. I'll try not to be so careless with the language for future updates. Thank you!

--


	8. Vaati's a Clown, Link has Amnesia

A.N.: Whew. Okay, this may or may not be the last of the speedy daily updates. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: see previous disclaimer.

**Chapter 8: Vaati's a clown, Link has amnesia**

When Link arrived at the gates of Hyrule, he had expected some form of appreciative welcome from the citizens. He had, after all, managed to single-handedly recapture Vaati. Instead, all he received was a curt nod from the guards posted by the southern entrance and a few curious glances from the townspeople as he made his way towards the central plaza. Not a single person threw a remotely worried glance at the unconscious villain he carried on his shoulders.

What disturbed him even more was that he couldn't recognize anybody in the streets, not even the soldiers who were approaching him now, adorned with the insignia of the Royal Guard.

"Why, hello Link! Are you enjoying your day off today?" one of the soldiers asked. Link was caught off guard. _Day off? That's what I was GOING to enjoy until we were sent out to search for Vaati and Opal._

"Erm, I didn't have a day off today." Now the soldier looked surprised. "Do you know where I can find Sir Gregory?' Link asked, eager to see someone he recognized.

"Sir Gregory?" The soldier rubbed his chin, "I know several Gregories, but none with the title of Sir." Several of his men nodded in agreement. Link's feeling of foreboding increased. Sir Gregory had been one of the most conspicuous men in the Royal Guard, he wasn't easily missed. The soldier continued laughing heartily, "But to not have a day off, Link! You shouldn't work yourself too hard; you deserve a vacation after the rough adventure you went through, and boy, what a story that was." Link began to feel worse; the soldier didn't notice and went on, "Nothing goes on around here anymore. We're practically unemployed! But you can't have a proper castle without the Royal Guards."

"No, I guess not…………OW!"

"Arrgh FOOL, let go of me, DON'T TOUCH ME!" Vaati kicked himself off of Link and landed on the ground with a loud whack.

"Ah, so your friend has woken up. May I inquire who this may be?" The soldier asked, watching with interest as the mage brushed himself off and unleashed a string of indistinguishable curses.

Vaati stopped and stood speechless. Link had the same reaction.

"How can you not know?" The words barely made it coherently out of Link's lips.

"I'm sorry, are you a celebrity? Forgive me but I'm not too familiar with the popular culture. My children make fun of me for it all the time." The soldier shook his head sadly.

"But he's…he's Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds! He tried to take over Hyrule and he, and he…" Link stuttered, and then fell quiet when all the soldiers began to laugh. Vaati laughed with them; this was great.

"Link, do you mean the Vaati from the old Hyrule legends? It's questionable he even existed," he chuckled, but then a look of concern appeared. "I know you had a rough time when you went out alone to defeat Ganon, goddesses know what you saw. I suggest you take it easy and rest. These nightmares will leave you soon enough." He turned to Vaati, "did something happen to him Mr.…?"

"…coincidentally, my name _is_ Vaati. I guess poor Link here made the wrong connections when I introduced myself." Vaati tried his best to look serious. He continued as solemnly as possible, "I'm afraid he's also been suffering from a type of amnesia. It appears he was zapped by a yellow Chu; an unfortunate accident." Link gave Vaati a cold glare, but said nothing.

The soldier nodded gravely. "Then please take care of him, he's gone through more than a boy his age should go through, as you may have already heard." He was about to leave when he brightened up and addressed Vaati, "The markings under your eyes…are you possibly employed under 'Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fantastication' at Lake Hylia?"

Vaati began to frown.

The soldier made an effort to explain, "You know, the two clowns that work the amusement park. I heard they're popular with the kids during the summer. My son absolutely loves it. Do you work there?"

"……he'd better shut up now," Vaati said under his breath, his good humor leaving him.

Link hastily began moving Vaati away from the group of soldiers, repressing a snigger, "I think we'd best be on our way."

XXXXXXXXX

"Would you stop laughing?!"

"Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fantastication?" Link fell into a new fit of laughter. "I think I'm going to forgive the 'Link was zapped by a Chu' story."

Vaati stormed past the market place, angrily shouldering his way past the evening crowd.

"All right, all right I'll stop," Link wheezed. He tried to catch up to Vaati as he was jostled by the people. He observed Vaati being bumped as he tried to push pass; it was still odd how nobody seemed to recognize him. "Where are you going?"

"If you haven't noticed, dimwit, this Hyrule isn't our Hyrule," Vaati was still angry. "I'm going to the library to check something."

"Why the library?" Link was somewhat surprised, "If you want information, we can just ask the locals. And seeing how nobody runs and screams at the sight of you, that would probably be faster and more up-to-date."

Vaati let out an impatient sigh. "The more people we talk to, the more attention we'll get. And seeing how you still hold the hero status and seeing you'll make at least one stupid remark, becoming gossip material would be way too easy." He turned a corner and narrowly missed crashing into a couple.

"…made even easier with a member from the Land of Fantastication."

"Did you say something just now?"

"No."

The crowd thinned as they made their way to the block that held the library. Only a few people remained at this time of day. The library itself appeared more impressive than Link had last remembered. It seemed there were more books on the shelves, it seemed there was more dust, it seemed older, and it seemed…

"It seems more…3D."

"Link, just shut up. I don't need your dumb comments to throw off my concentration," Vaati glanced at a notice lying on the reception desk, threw it towards Link, and asked the receptionist for a certain book. Link made out "Section H14, row 22," and wondered what the mage was looking for when something on the notice caught his eye.

His head went numb when he saw the date.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What did you just do?" Ganon seethed at Opal after he had recovered from the initial shock of finding himself…changed.

"…"

"I ordered you to fill the land of Hyrule with monsters nobody had ever set eyes on before. What," he whispered, "is this?"

"…I filled the land of Hyrule with monsters nobody had ever set eyes on before, Lord Ganon. You did not specify how I should do it."

Ganon angrily punched a wall. "And how, pray tell, did you do it?"

"I opened a portal between a future Hyrule and the Hyrule we used to be in. I think I couldn't quite control it and accidentally created a portal so large it engulfed our Hyrule."

"So what you're saying is you changed the old Hyrule into a future Hyrule."

"Yes, Lord Ganon."

Ganon watched her thoughtfully. "Now, answer the next question carefully. If I don't like it, you're going to die." The possessed girl stared forward, unfazed. "How will this affect the Hero of Time?"

Opal answered. Ganon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he was grinning. "Good girl. He's bound to figure out I'm free sooner or later. I'll give him a break; this time, he can come to me when he's ready…if he even manages to survive until then."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Half-an-hour later, Vaati came back to find Link staring at his hands looking depressed. Vaati couldn't really understand how finding one in the future would be troublesome; it happened to him whenever he escaped the Four Sword, and really, Hyrule never changed much however many years had progressed. Link noticed Vaati.

"What happened? We're not really in the future, are we?" Link looked like someone who was trying to laugh at a bad joke.

Vaati ignored him and thumbed through the book he had brought with him. The title was Monster Hunter's Field Guide: Hyrule's dungeons.

"I mean, if I'm in the future and people recognize me," Link continued, obviously panic-stricken, "then there must be two me-s, and therefore two Triforces. Two Triforces of Courage can't exist in the same time period. That would mess things up too much. Therefore, we cannot possibly be in the future." Link's expression relaxed as he marveled at his own logic. _That's right. I can't be in the future. It wouldn't make sense._

Vaati kept his gaze on the book, "Mmhmm, we probably won't be meeting another you. Though if we did, I'd be able to use one of you take out my frustrations and the other as my body guard."

"So…we're not in the future, right? Tell me I missed something. Tell me I really _was_ shocked into amnesia by a yellow Chu."

"You were shocked into amnesia by a yellow Chu."

"…You're not very helpful."

Vaati slammed his book shut. "Are you done moping yet? I gave you a good thirty minutes to take this all in. I come back, and you're still moping!" He glared, "Face it Link, we're in the damn future. Now straighten up and stop whining like a baby!"

"Vaati……what happened?"

Vaati looked away. "I'm not sure, but I have…ideas."

OXXXXXXXXXXO


	9. Say Please

A.N.: I hope you all like the story so far!

Disclaimer: see previous ones. They're the same.

**Chapter 9: Say Please**

Link and Vaati found a set of sofas at the farther end of the library where they could discuss their current predicament privately. Vaati made Link choose a sofa, and then proceeded to sit as far away from him as possible while still being able to be heard.

"You mentioned earlier that it wouldn't be possible for two Triforces of Courage to be found in the same age. Though we could be mistaken, I would also agree that it isn't possible.  
When both of us found ourselves in the future, I think, because you are the wielder of the Triforce _and_ the Hero of Time, you replaced your future version.'

Link looked baffled, "You mean when I came here my future half vanished from existence?"

"Possibly. Again, I'm only guessing. But it would explain why you remember everything about your past self and nothing about your future self. Seeing what happened to you, I would also guess the same thing befell your dear princess and Ganon."

"How do you know the future Zelda or Ganon didn't take the place of the past Zelda or Ganon? Wait…" Link paused. "I could understand why Ganon would stay Ganon hundreds of years into the future, but why would Zelda be Zelda? I'm pretty sure she would have a normal Hylian lifespan."

"Okay, one question at a time. I'll start with your last one. You, Zelda, and Ganon are like cockroaches. The three of you die and reappear in a different incarnation every couple hundred years or so. I hate to admit it, but no matter how hard I try, I would probably never be able to completely get rid of you. I think it's connected to the fact that you each hold a piece of the Triforce."

Link frowned. "Don't call Zelda that. If anything, you're the cockroach since you keep popping up without separate incarnations."

Vaati put a hand to his face. "Okay, just…forget about the cockroach analogy. You understand my point, do you not? Or are you as stupid as you appear to be?"

Link crossed his arms and nodded.

"Good, so you admit you're stupid. We're finally getting somewhere. Anyway…shut up Link, just listen…the reason why I think the past versions replaced the future versions is because of the way Opal creates portals. Have you seen them before?"

"I've heard Zelda explain what it felt like to be warped, but I've never seen it. I've also heard Opal say something about moving one piece of the world to another…"

"I've seen it once, and experienced it twice. I'm guessing again but I think she takes all the space that exists in one location, shoves it through a portal and replaces it with the space in a different location. It's very strange," Vaati shook his head, "but if that's how it works, then all the 'space' that makes up our soul was replaced with the space that took up our future versions' souls."

"…I'm confused."

"I'm not surprised I just wasted my breath on you. Just accept it Link, I think you've kicked your future self out of existence."

"……so, everyone else didn't have to go through the replacement process because they weren't connected to the Triforce?"

"That's my theory."

"Then why are you still here? You don't have the Triforce."

Vaati twirled his wrists and caused some blue runes to spiral around them. "I think it's because of the spell binding curse Opal afflicted on me. It's a type of curse that's connected with the one who cast it. She would have to disable it; it's not based on time." He sighed, "It's really the only explanation I can think of right now."

Link took several minutes to think about everything Vaati had said. "If Opal still has the ability to replace one time period with another, we still have a chance of returning to our own age."

"Good for you, Link. I didn't think you were smart enough to figure that out yourself."

Link ignored the red-eyed mage. "I'm going to defeat Ganon, dispossess Opal, and get her to take me back."

Vaati stood up and stretched. "Let's go then. I'm tired of talking to you."

Link looked at Vaati, surprised. "What makes you think I'm taking you with me?"

"What?" Vaati stopped mid-stretch.

Link grinned; now he had the upper hand. "You're useless, Vaati. You can't even defend yourself. I'm going to have to save your sorry hide at every turn."

"I don't need saving. Especially not from _you_." Vaati shot, but Link could see uncertainty behind those red eyes. Link shrugged,

"Of course you don't. That's why we can go our own separate ways. Good luck, Vaati. I heard the bar by the East end of Hyrule was looking to employ someone."

"Why…you…how dare you mock me?"

"All the more reason we should stay apart, right?"

Vaati was about to make a nasty remark, but then stopped when he realized how empty his threats would be. Link was right; without magic, he was hopeless. Still, he didn't want to ask Link of all people for help.  
Link watched Vaati shaking with frustration. He had to admit, he felt a bit sorry for the mage. He had gone from the most powerful to the most pitiful in a matter of days. Link decided to give Vaati his saving grace.

"Just be glad you don't have to be hung anymore."

Vaati perked up. _That's it!_ "Listen, Link. Don't you think Princess Zelda would be more pleased if I returned to Hyrule with you?"

Link pretended to think. "Oh right. I didn't think of that."

Vaati sneered, "Typical of you to forget the real reason you're with me in the first place."

"In that case, I'll take you with me."

Vaati smirked.

"…but you have to ask me first."

Vaati's smirk fell. "Why the hell would I…"

"It's my conditions. If you don't want to, I can just leave you alone."

"Grr…………………FINE!" Vaati screamed. The librarian looked up from her desk.

"Please keep quiet in the library!"

"I'm…I'm going with you."

"That's not asking. That's demanding."

"Rrr…die Link…"

"Okay, bye Vaati."

"WAIT." Link turned. Vaati appeared shocked he had said that in such a loud voice. "Can you…can you…can…ugh I hate you…can I go with you?"

"What did you forget to say?"

"WHAT?"

The librarian stood up. "Please keep quiet in the library!"

"The first word the librarian said. What was it again?" Link knew he was in for it if and when Vaati got his magic back, but he couldn't help it.

Vaati trembled in rage. His next words were so quiet Link had to strain to hear them, "Can I go with you, _please_?"

"That's much better. Come on, we're going to find someplace we can stay for the night." He began walking towards the door and gave an apologetic smile to the librarian. "Vaati, do you want to apologize to the librarian before we leave?"

"Don't push your luck." Instead, he glared at the librarian, unceremoniously wrenched open the door, and slammed it behind him.

Link turned to the librarian, who wore a look of disdain. "I'm sorry Ma'am, he had a rough day."

OXXXXXXXXO

**fleets**: That chapter might have been confusing. This is the short explanation: Link, Vaati, Ganondorf, and Zelda currently appear in the style of Twilight Princess. The cell-shaded style of Four Sword left when Opal did the time switch.

--


	10. The Right Weapon

A.N.: And we get more updates! The longest chapter by far. Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing the dialogues. Thanks to all the reviewers and readers out there!

Disclaimer: (sigh) this gets cumbersome. Please see previous disclaimers.

**Chapter 10: The Right Weapon**

Link and Vaati had been able to find lodgings at a bar run by a plump, bawdy, middle-aged woman by the name of Telma. The moment Link stepped into the bar she had run up to him and given him a suffocating hug while Vaati watched safely from a distance. Apparently, the future Link had been well acquainted with her, and the two time travelers had some explaining to do to keep her from becoming suspicious.

"Link dear, you don't remember me at all?"

"Erm…"

"But you visited me regularly; this was practically your second home."

"Really…"

"What about that time you so kindly escorted that dearie Ilia, the Zora boy, and me to Kakariko Village? No? Or the time you jousted that King Bulblin at the Great Bridge of Hylia? You were _so _handsome then."

Link began to grow uncomfortable. "Um…" He glanced over to Vaati who was suppressing a laugh. "_Get over here and help me!_" Link said between his teeth, making sure Telma didn't notice. Vaati was about to refuse when he noticed Telma quickly striding towards him.

"Why, and who might you be?"

"Don't touch me woman."

Telma didn't seem to hear. "Purple hair? That's quite an unusual taste you've got there kiddo." She looked at him disapprovingly. "Link, I'm not sure I like you spending time with these types." Vaati was helplessly trapped between the wall and Telma's imposing figure. He coughed. "If you'll let us explain…" Telma gave him a dismissing glance and practically sashayed over to Link.

"Link is suffering from a bit of amnesia –."

"I figured as much. Go upstairs, and take the room at the end. I'm afraid it's the only room we've got right now." Telma interrupted him with a grand wave of her hand.

Vaati looked horrified. "We are not sharing rooms." Link nodded earnestly in agreement.

"I'm not charging you any rupees. It's the best deal you'll find."

Vaati and Link exchanged glances. Vaati began slowly, "Link, how much money do you have on you? Because I don't have any rupees."

Link fished around his pockets. "…"

"……I'm guessing you don't have any either."

Telma suddenly walked up and pinched Vaati on the cheek. "I knew it! Link, dear, did you spend all your money wasting away in bars with this fellow?"

Link looked thoughtfully at Vaati who was trying to get Telma to let go of him. "Yeah, sorry."

"That's a lie! ACK." Telma had given the mage a hard tug on the cheek.

"If I see you near Link again…" she began. Vaati gave Link a death glare. Link decided Vaati had had enough, and put a hand on Telma's shoulder.

"He's been through a lot. He wanted to forget things."

Telma glanced from Link to Vaati, and she gave a knowing nod. "All right. I understand. I know how people sometimes want to forget deeds with alcohol but," she brought a finger up to Vaati's nose in warning, "you shouldn't do it again."

Vaati nodded weakly, "Yes'm."

"Good. Well, you two boys get a good rest. I'll have breakfast ready by the time you come downstairs." She winked flirtatiously and waved them out of the room.

XXXXXXXXX

"What a woman."

"Don't remind me." Vaati rubbed his cheek. "Can't say I understand your tastes though."

_Whap!_

"……that was uncalled for." Now Vaati had one hand on his head where Link had hit him and one hand on his cheek.

"I think she just helped me with my previous adventure." Link said, voice wavering, "nothing more."

"You just keep telling yourself that."

Link unsheathed his sword.

Vaati grumbled. "You know what? The more time I spend in this world the more I hate it. At least back then people actually gave me respect." A wistful look came over him. He fiercely pointed a finger at Link, blue runes flaring around his wrists. "To Stone With You!"

Link looked at him. "...??"

"Ah, never mind. I was just remembering the good days." He hopped on the only bed in the room and eyed Link. "You're sleeping on the floor."

Link sighed. He was too tired to argue. He pulled over the rug by the door and rolled over its corners to make something that resembled a pillow. He'd slept in worse, even in dungeons. Compared to that, this wasn't so bad. He took another glance at the lavender boy already asleep comfortably in the bed. On second thought, this was a bit worse.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link woke up the next morning to find Vaati already up and about. "'Bout time you woke up."

Link groggily rubbed his eyes. "If you didn't need to sleep so long you could've spared me the bed."

"Psh, I'm not going to sleep on the floor like a poor street hermit," Vaati scoffed, "come, show me your weapons inventory. I need to arm myself."

"What? Can't that wait?" Link still wasn't fully awake yet. Vaati tapped his foot impatiently.

"No. I'm sick of going around helpless." He crossed his arms, "Before, I could blow up a city if I so desired. Now, I can't even stop an aging woman from bossing me around."

"You and your ego…" Link muttered, "And you shouldn't underestimate aging ladies."

Vaati grinned. "Speaking from experience?"

"Shut up. Ok, do you think you can handle a bow?" Link got up and grabbed a medium-sized bag hanging from his tunic.

"I'm not sure. Wait, you don't mean to say you keep everything in that tiny bag?" Vaati tried to get a better look.

Link spun it around in his hands. "I know, weird huh? It's just one of these things that came with the tunic. I just try not to think too hard about its mechanics."

"No wonder you seemed to just grab weapons out of thin air…"

The first item Link brought out was the bow and arrows. Vaati eagerly picked it up; he was finally going to get something he could attack things with.

"Um…maybe we should get you something else…" Link watched, amused, as Vaati tried to get the arrow knocked onto the bow. It took him a full fifteen seconds before he had the bow loaded. The next bit was causing him problems as he couldn't pull the string back far enough for it to do decent damage.

"This is stupid," Vaati dejectedly threw the bow down onto the floor. "What else have you got?"

"Hold on…here! Er…" Link watched in surprise as an enormous ball and chain crashed onto the floor and splintered some of the wood. "Wow……I never knew I had that…"

"That's probably something 'future you' had." Vaati picked up the end of the chain and tugged. The ball didn't budge. "Ok. Next?"

"But you haven't even tried to swing it yet."

"Very funny Link. I'll stuff this up your face if you don't show me what other things you've got."

The next item was a bag of bombs. Link put it off to the side. "I am not giving you that."

"Why not? I've used bombs against you before; I know how they work."

"Bombs not only have the wonderful potential to hurt enemies but the added bonus of hurting your team members. I'm worrying about my own safety; I could care less if you self-destructed." Link slapped Vaati's hand away from the bag. Link sighed. "Look, just listen to this scenario. Link and Vaati encounter a group of moblins. Link rushes in towards the moblins armed with his sword. Vaati throws a bomb at the moblins fighting Link. The moblins and Link all blow up and die."

"That sounds splendid. Give me the bombs."

Link stopped Vaati with his sword. "I thought you wanted to come with me?"

"No, I did not _want_ to go with you. I kinda _had_ to go with you."

"I can make you plead again. Do you want to repeat that? No, I thought not. Moving on."

Vaati wrinkled his nose at the next item. "…Link, that's a fishing pole……" Link gave it a swing.

"Did you know you could cause damage against monsters with this? You should try –."

"NO. Next."

Link's next item was something that looked like a large top. Link brought it eye-level to see if he could figure out what it did. "I guess it's another item 'future me' got." He tossed it over to Vaati. "It would really help if I had 'future me's' memories right now." Vaati gave it a few experimental spins and threw it over his shoulder.

"Next."

Link and Vaati pondered over their next item, the Dominion Rod. "What does it do?"

Link shrugged as Vaati gave it a swing. "I don't know. It doesn't seem to do anything." Vaati frowned as he gave it another swing. It hit one of the bed legs and dented it.

"It's pretty sturdy." Vaati stared at the dented furniture. He then tossed the rod into the 'junk' pile. "Next."

"Hey Vaati! This should be great for you!"

"What? What is it?" Vaati leaned closer, impatient to get a weapon.

"Even kids can use this effectively."

"………Why do I have a feeling I'm going to hate what you're going to give me?"

"Here," Link tossed Vaati the slingshot. Vaati snatched the toy out of the air, loaded it with some pumpkin seeds and fired some shots at Link. "Ow! Hey, that hurt!" Link protested, until he saw Vaati pull back on the rubber band and aim another shot. "Okay, I guess that's a 'No'."

Vaati fired anyway. "You'd better rethink just who, exactly, you're talking to."

"A bit –"

"NEXT."

Link was beginning to look exasperated, and Vaati was becoming increasingly upset since it appeared there was nothing in Link's inventory he could effectively use. "You know, if your physical abilities weren't so below average we'd probably be able to find something you'd be able to use." Vaati said nothing, but gave the slingshot another warning pull. Link gulped, "Okay, okay! We'll find you something." Vaati nodded, and fired a shot over Link's head.

"The faster you find something for me the less you'll suffer."

"I'm beginning to have second thoughts on arming you."

Vaati fired again. This time, it hit Link on the forehead. "You'll have more than second thoughts if you don't hurry up." Link growled, and took out his next weapon.

They looked like gauntlets, except the end had metal claws instead. "They're Clawshots. Except I don't quite understand why I have two instead of only one." Vaati took one and put it on his hand. Link continued to explain. "They're not really good for fighting. I used it mostly to move across large gaps or quickly move up a ledge. That's not to say you can't use them effectively against monsters." Vaati tugged at one of the claws. "I sometimes used it to either stun monsters or –."

Vaati grinned, aimed it at Link, and fired. The result wasn't what he expected.

"AAAH, you FREAK! Get away from me!" Vaati violently shoved the startled Link who had been grabbed by the Clawshot and had been forcefully pulled closer to the mage.

Link removed the Clawshot away from his tunic. "I was just about to explain that they can be used to move enemies closer to you as well." Link scowled at Vaati, "Why do you have to try my weapons out on me? I'm going to keep you defenseless if you do something like that again."

"Ok, ok, I'm actually sorry I did that." Vaati huddled into a ball, traumatized. "I'm paying for it already." Link put the Clawshots away.

"I think we're down to the last weapon."

Vaati managed to look up from his huddle. "If I don't like it, I'm getting the bombs."

Link prayed that the next item would actually be usable by Vaati. If this one didn't please him, Link was going to have to go adventuring with the fear of being blown up, accidentally or purposely, by his nemesis. He was disappointed when the last item turned out to be a boomerang. It was fancier than the boomerang he had had in his time; its white blades were designed to look like wings and had pale green tips. However, he knew boomerangs hardly ever worked to kill monsters, and he assumed Vaati wouldn't want a weapon that could only stun. He wordlessly handed it over to Vaati, who turned it over in his hands.

After a few minutes of observing it, Vaati gave his verdict. "I want this."

"Really?" Link asked, incredulous. He was about to point out that it was almost no better than the slingshot, but then decided against it. Who was he to encourage Vaati to pick the bombs? "Can I ask why, out of curiosity?"

Vaati shrugged. "I just want it. Now stop asking or I'm going to change my mind." Link nodded, and began to put away the weapons now cluttered all over the floor. Vaati took another look at the boomerang he held in his hands. Although he had threatened Link he might switch weapons, he had just been bluffing. He felt connected to the boomerang somehow; it didn't feel clumsy or awkward in his grip. Vaati was surprised when he felt something stir in his mind. _You hold the Gale Boomerang_. "What?"

Link looked up. "Hm? Did you say something?"

Vaati waved the boomerang at Link. "Have your weapons ever talked to you before?"

"………I should've known from the beginning you were insane."

Vaati ignored him. Maybe he had just imagined it? He tapped it a couple of times against his palm. A few wisps of wind curled around the boomerang's edges. Vaati smiled; no wonder he liked the weapon. It used magic. Wind magic.

"Are you done making friends with my boomerang?" Link asked impatiently. "Telma says breakfast is ready. Or had been for a while. It's practically noon."

Vaati grunted, stood up, and hooked the boomerang onto his belt. The two made their way downstairs where Telma had readied food.

OXXXXXXXXO

**fleets**: Thanks for sticking with me for 10 chapters!

Vaati: Review. Or else.

Link: Shut up, Vaati. You can't do anything to them.

Vaati: I have a boomerang now.

Link: You sound so pitiful when you say that.

Vaati: Link, DIE.

**fleets**: Please ignore them.

--


	11. Old Friends

A.N.: We're slowly but surely getting there, wherever "there" may be. Thanks for reading (and reviewing)!

Disclaimer: Nintendo owns Zelda. I have Opal and the librarian :). Please don't use my characters without permission.

**Chapter 11: Old Friends**

Vaati, full of suspicion, poked his breakfast. "You humans eat the most disgusting things imaginable." He brought a piece of egg to his nose and gagged. Link, meanwhile, was shoving forkful after forkful into his mouth.

"What do you eat anyway?" Link asked.

"Not this."

"Link! You've got visitors!" Telma boomed from the door. Link saw a man walking towards them. He had a rugged appearance with a sword slung across his back. The most curious thing about him, however, was that he wore an odd helmet that covered over half his face, concealing his features.

"Link! Where've you been? Ilia's been worried sick ever since you just decided to run off out of the village without telling anybody." The man removed his helmet, revealing a thick eye-browed face with sharp mustaches outlining his lips. "It's been over a month. I heard some gossip that you had joined the Royal Guards, but why didn't you come visit us?"

"Rusl, I forgot to tell you that Link doesn't remember anything." Telma informed him as she picked up a wine glass and began to polish it.

The man named Rusl blanched. "Link…you don't remember me…Ilia…Ordon?"

Link nodded. Rusl fell into a chair, shocked. "We were all wondering what had happened to you." He then shook his head sadly. "Then I guess it will be pointless to tell you…" Vaati spoke up quickly,

"Sir, we believe the amnesia is temporary. Can you tell us what you were planning to say?"

Rusl looked at Vaati sternly. "I'm sorry, but this matter is something I can say only to people I trust." He quickly turned to Link. "That's not to say that I don't trust you, but without your memories…you're probably a different person now. I'll tell you when you recover." Vaati stabbed his egg, frustrated that they were being withheld possibly helpful information. If he had magic, he could probably have been able to frighten the man into giving it to them.

"Link, well…this is a little strange. Not remembering, I mean. But um, would it be too much to ask if you visited the folks back in Ordon?" Rusl gave him a weak smile, and then dropped his head. "No, that wouldn't be fair to you or everyone in the village. It wouldn't make them happy; it would just make them worry." His gaze moved to Vaati who was dissecting his sausage sadistically. "You said you believed it was temporary?" Vaati remained silent, obviously upset at Rusl's previous refusal to give him information. Link decided to answer for him.

"I think I'll get my memories back after some time."

"Alright. Remember to visit us when you do. You don't know how happy it will make everyone. Especially the kids." Rusl stood up to leave and addressed Telma. "Can you drop a note to the rest of the gang? Tell them 'the light has gone'." Telma covered her mouth before she hastily regained her composure. Vaati watched them carefully.

"…It's Ganondorf, isn't it?"

Rusl stopped. Telma continued to polish the wine glass even though it was conspicuously clean. "What did you say?"

Vaati repeated patiently. "Ganondorf's back, isn't he?" Vaati noted Rusl avoid his gaze, and concluded that he had been correct. "You wanted to recruit Link, but seeing he didn't remember anything, you decided that he probably wasn't fit to go fight."

Rusl looked at Telma uncertainly. Telma tilted her head in Link's direction. "I think you can tell him, Rusl. It's Link after all." She winked at them, "I wouldn't worry about his fighting abilities. He's a true warrior; it's in his instincts."

Rusl slowly came back to the table Link and Vaati were sitting at and looked Vaati squarely in the eye. "What's your name?"

"Vaati, the Sor –"

"Rusl, it's just Vaati" Link interrupted him. Vaati huffed.

"Ok, Vaati. What I'm about to tell you is to be kept in utmost secrecy, do you understand? If we find out that you've ratted on us, don't think you'll get away with it." Vaati rolled his eyes. He was beginning to find it annoying that no one besides Link knew of his full potential. Rusl continued, "I have reasons to believe someone took siege of Hyrule castle sometime last night." Link and Vaati sat up.

"Last night??"

Rusl nodded, and took out a small stone from his pocket. It was dull, grey, and average. "After the last ordeal with the Twili, Princess Zelda instructed each of the members of the resistance to carry a stone she had enchanted. If she was safe, a gold triangle would be found on the stone. If not," Rusl turned the stone over in his hands and passed it to Link and Vaati, "something happened at Hyrule castle." Vaati absent-mindedly rubbed the stone with his thumb.

"That's awfully clever."

Rustle took the stone back and returned it to his pocket. "The purpose was so we'll be notified as soon as possible of the Princess's safety. The Royal Guards are, I'm afraid, not very reliable during times of crisis."

Link whispered to Vaati, "I thought our Royal Guards were pretty decent." Vaati arched his eyebrows and made a face.

Rusl looked at Link. "Link, when I heard you were here I was hoping you would be able to aid us. Even though you don't have your memories, do you think you still have what it takes to fight?"

"You can count on us, Rusl." Link stood up and twirled his sword. "We'll save Hyrule."

Rusl smiled. "Even without your memories, you're Link through and through."

"Sword." Rustle and Link turned to Vaati who had his face in his hands. "We don't have the Four Sword anymore dammit. And even if we did, Ganondorf won't have trouble escaping seeing how easily he broke the seal the first time around." He sounded depressed at his second sentence. Rusl looked at Vaati quizzically while Link turned solemn.

"He's right. I can't fight him with this," he said as he put away his sword. Rusl rubbed his chin.

"I don't know what you two are talking about, but I know Link used the Master Sword when he defeated Ganondorf the last time."

"The Master Sword?"

Rusl nodded. "The Blade of Evil's Bane. I only know it is located somewhere in the Faron woods, but you never revealed to me its exact resting place," he smiled sadly at Link. "You hardly ever talked about your adventures after you got back."

"What are we wasting our time for?" Vaati pushed Link aside and stomped angrily towards Rusl. "You, I demand you to take –"

Link shoved Vaati back. "Vaati, don't be rude. Rusl, can you take us to the Faron woods?"

Rusl faltered, "Well, um, are you sure you'll be all right Link?" He couldn't keep his gaze off of the mage as he grabbed Link by the collar and attempted to stab him with a butter knife. Rusl only hoped he had been mistaken when he heard Vaati tell Link he'll "gouge his eyes out."

"Oh, you mean him?" Link kicked Vaati in the shins and got him to let go. "It's all right. We're old friends." Vaati fell into a fit of coughing.

Rusl shrugged. "If you say so. The two of you should start packing. We leave in an hour."

XXXXXXXXXX

The librarian of Hyrule didn't take her eyes off of the girl until she knew she wouldn't cause any trouble like her last visitors. It had been the second time that week for someone to request a copy of a book on Hyrule's monsters. She sighed. Kids these days. And she didn't like the apparently new trend of making one's appearance look as evil as possible. Just yesterday, Hyrule's hero had appeared with a demonic looking boy with red eyes and a cape. The new girl sported black armor (_Armor! In times of peace!_ The librarian thought) with a stare that appeared as empty as her smile. She imagined she had seen fangs.

The librarian flipped through the card catalogues, making sure they were in perfect order. She figured she shouldn't complain about her visitors if they kept quiet in the library.

OXXXXXXXXXO


	12. To Ordon

A.N.: Vaati with a boomerang. Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Nintendo except Opal. Please don't use my character without permission.

**Chapter 12: To Ordon**

Hyrule was still oblivious to what had occurred at the castle when Rusl, Link, and Vaati stepped out of Telma's bar. None of them were surprised, however. The townsfolk mostly worried about their daily routines, and the Royal Guards were, well, they were the Royal Guards. The future guards weren't the valiant ones Link had known during his time; these guards preferred to ignore a problem lest they be called in to fight. Rusl grumbled how useless they had been the last time Hyrule had been attacked. "Cowards, the lot of them," he had said.

Link and Rusl walked together through southern Hyrule field; Vaati had trudged on ahead, experimenting with his new boomerang. Link was impressed by how quickly Vaati had been able to master the weapon. Within the first three throws he had learned how to move the weapon's trajectory in any path he liked. As he watched the vortex created by the boomerang zigzag across the plains, he suspected Vaati's mastery had something to do with his affinity to wind.

The ex-mage loved the boomerang. It still wasn't as good as being able to control wind however he saw fit, but it was better than nothing. He was currently occupied with a pterodactyl-like monster that had tried to attack them earlier. The poor thing was spiraled into the tornado created by the boomerang, was left dazed, and then was put into the vortex again when it recovered. For the first time since he had lost his magic, Vaati was clearly enjoying himself.

Link excused himself from Rusl, walked over to the tortured Kargaroc, and put it out of its misery. Vaati glared.

Link shook his head. "There's no need to torture your foes any more than you have to."

Vaati's eyes narrowed and he threw the boomerang towards Link. Link managed to dodge, but not before the sword in his hand was swept away by the wind. Vaati looked triumphant when the boomerang returned with his new prize.

"I'm warning you, boy. When all this is over I'll make sure I kill you slowly." He pointed the sword at Link.

Link signaled to Rusl, "Hey Rusl? Can I borrow your sword for a sec? Thanks." Link drew Rusl's sword and got into a fighting stance. Vaati showed a tinge of nervousness; he had forgotten about Rusl's sword. Vaati growled and made a jab at Link. Link easily rolled away, side-stepped, and positioned himself behind Vaati. Before Vaati had time to turn around, Link had given him a good kick and had sent the lavender-haired mage sprawling on the ground.

"Vaati? I thought they said you were an expert with the sword. Didn't you win the swordsmanship tournament when you first appeared?" Link was somewhat disappointed. He had been expecting a decent sparring match.

"…"

Rusl moved over to the mage and offered his hand to help him up. Vaati pointedly ignored him, stood up, and brushed himself off with his back still turned to Link. "You forget I could use magic back then."

"You cheated?"

Vaati turned around. His gaze was acidic. "Mark my words you'll regret ever making a fool of me." With that, Vaati stormed off. He was going to find another Kargaroc to victimize to lighten his mood.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ganondorf was seated at the throne, his chin on one hand, a book in his other. Taking control of the castle had been laughably easy. Opal had warped both of them to the throne room where he had murdered everyone in the vicinity save for the princess.

He threw the book Opal had brought him towards the dead bodies piled a few feet away from the princess, trapped in a crystal prism. "Only a few of these monsters are new, Opal."

"Yes, Lord Ganon."

Ganondorf tapped his chin. "I want Link to suffer, girl. This isn't sufficient."

"Yes, Lord Ganon. I apologize, Lord Ganon."

He looked at her coldly. "Apologizing isn't enough. I am not a patient man; send him something better or I'm going to dispose of you."

The possessed girl's expression was unreadable. She became quiet, as though she were thinking of something, and then answered, "I will have something ready for them, Lord Ganon."

Ganondorf was about to dismiss her when a word she had said caught his interest. "…You just said _them_, not _him_. Who were you referring to?" He sat up and leaned forward.

Her gaze was empty and soulless, "I observed Link traveling towards the Faron Woods with the sorcerer Vaati and a man I could not recognize, Lord Ganon."

"Well well well. So that little scum survived. And traveling with Link; I'm surprised." He let out a harsh laugh. "Give them something special, and don't disappoint me."

"……Yes, Lord Ganon."

XXXXXXXXX

The three had made it to Ordon village before sundown, and Link gratefully thanked Rusl for his decision to keep his arrival a secret. Rusl only told him he had no other choice because Link's amnesia would cause everyone to worry.

"I'll take you into the Faron woods tomorrow," Rusl said. "You're going to be on your own after we reach the forest. I don't know where the sword lies, but it's in there somewhere. I have a feeling you should start your search at the Forest Temple to find clues." Link and Vaati followed him to a modest, two story house just outside the main village. "Get a lot of rest. The Temple used to hold monsters, and I'm not certain they've all gone." He motioned to them to enter the house. "I'm afraid I won't be able to search with you because I have my own duties to attend to. I hope you understand."

"We understand. Please, don't worry about us. Thank you for all your help." Link smiled. Rusl returned it.

"Link, I don't deserve your thanks. You've done more than your share of fighting," he said softly. "You're going to come back to Ordon village in one piece, you hear me?"

Link nodded. Rusl tapped him on the shoulder and left for the village, turning back once to give Link a parting wave.

XXXXXXXXX

Link saw that the house Rusl had offered them had been where his future version had once resided. A ladder was propped against a ledge, leading up to the second floor where the bedroom was. A few photographs along the walls depicted what his life had been like. He was about to prepare something he could lie on, thinking Vaati would steal the bed again, but was interrupted by the purple mage.

"Go, take the bed. The entire house, actually." He made for the door. Link looked at him questioningly. "I'm not being nice, if that's what you're thinking," Vaati glowered. "I just feel incredibly sick staying in this house."

Vaati went outside and looked around for someplace to sleep. There was no freaking way he could spend the night at Link's house; he'd lose his self-respect. Settling under a pine tree, he reflected on all that had happened so far. He grimaced. _I'm going to rip you apart for doing this to me, Opal_. _Then I'm going to take over Hyrule_.

He had been confident that these thoughts would be able to brighten him up, but he surprised himself when he began to feel unsure. _Me? Unsure about taking over Hyrule?_ Vaati shook his head violently. What happened to the old Vaati? He punched the tree. _I'm DEFINITELY going to rip you apart, Opal. _

Vaati stared at his fist, a little red from hitting the ragged bark. Then he smiled to himself; he had felt happy at the prospect of getting revenge. _That's more like it_. Feeling more reassured that his old, evil self hadn't died out, he decided to let sleep take him. _After I get my magic back_, he thought as he drifted off, _Hyrule will experience my wrath once more._

XXXXXXXXXXX

A brief ripple moved across the trees somewhere deep in the Faron woods, and then disappeared as fast as it had come. An owl turned its head and perched silently on a branch as though it was expecting something to happen.

The ground shook slightly. Something stirred and awakened. It waited for its prey.

OXXXXXXXXO

A.N.: ...wow, I feel tired. I look at this story and I can't help but go, "Have I only spent three days on this so far??" I guess this chapter depicts my current mood; it's definitely not as lively as Chap 10 (I wrote that when I was hyper). Hum hum, well, I guess I'll persevere. I already know how everything is going to end; it's just dauntingly far far away. I really want to get there though. I have it in my mind, but I want to be able to read the words.

Oops, sorry. I'll stop boring you all. You'd probably rather read about the V/L combo, right? OK! Let me continue!

Coming up next: A scuffle at Trill's shop :).

--


	13. A Shaky Alliance

A.N.: Guess what? A double chapter update day!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Zelda related. Nintendo does.

**Chapter 13: A Shaky Alliance**

Rusl had left Link and Vaati a few ways away from the Forest Temple before turning back towards the village. They were now the dysfunctional pair again, much to the dismay of Link. At least with Rusl present, Vaati had been better behaved. Ok, only a little bit, but that little bit made a big difference. He was already using Link for target practice.

"That's right fool, run away!" Vaati crowed as he sent the Gale Boomerang in a tight arc towards Link. Link ducked as a powerful gust blew over his head.

"Cut it out! We don't have time for this." Link brought up his shield and the boomerang ricocheted off and flew somewhere else. Vaati cursed as it went out of his view.

"You weren't supposed to do that."

The two heard a loud squawk from the direction of where the boomerang had gone. "Woo! Hey! Woo!" When Vaati arrived where the boomerang had landed, he found a small shop run by a talking blue parrot. "Woo! Hey! Woo! You're super!" it trilled. It clutched the boomerang in its talons.

Vaati bristled; he was helpless again and he didn't like it. Still, he wasn't to be outdone by a parrot. He was Vaati after all. "I'm going to give you two options, and I'll let you choose. You're going to give me that boomerang," he pointed, "or I'm going to pluck out all your feathers and roast you over a pit."

The bird cocked its head and clucked. "Options! Woo! New item on sale!" It fluttered its wings and somehow managed to look sly. "300 rupees. Woo!"

Vaati snatched the boomerang from the parrot. "Like hell I'll pay for it." By this time, Link had caught up and was snickering at Vaati. When the mage tried to leave, he felt a sharp pain on his shoulder where the bird had pecked him.

"300 rupees."

Vaati roared, "I'm Vaati! I do not pay anyone, IMBECILE!" He made a grab for the bird's neck but it was too fast for him.

"Stop! Thief!"

"Oh sh…" The bird began to dive-bomb Vaati. Link was rolling on the ground laughing as the 'great sorcerer' tried to flee the little blue blur. The mage had run all the way to the Forest Temple's entrance before the parrot gave up and left.

"Evil doesn't go unpunished. You of all people should know that by now." Link grinned as he approached the gasping mage.

"Shut…(pant)…up…(pant)…Link…" Vaati paused as he tried to regain his breath. He noticed Link holding two bottles of red liquid. "……what's that?"

"This? Oh…just something I found at the shop."

Vaati gave Link an accusatory glare. "You nicked it."

"Thanks to you." Link put it away in his pouch.

"Whatever happened to your 'evil doesn't go unpunished,' theory?"

"We're so righteous all of a sudden?"

"No. I'm just annoyed you weren't attacked by that stupid bird while I was."

"Oh, stop complaining. You were actually useful this time. Be happy."

"Just keep insulting me, Link. One day, I'll repay you so well you'll be on the floor crying and screaming with my generosity."

The two stepped into the great tree that held the Forest Temple. Rotting leaves squished as they made their way into the first chamber. It was eerily silent. The vague outlines of ancient vines along the walls emphasized the haunting atmosphere.

"Well, I guess there isn't a huge monster infestation here." Link stated. His words echoed in the halls.

Vaati's boomerang spiraled around the walls and caused puffs of purple smoke to appear. "Don't be so sure."

"What was that?"

Vaati caught the returning boomerang. He wiped off green ooze from its blades with his sleeve. "Walltulas." Vaati grinned when he saw Link's worried expression. "They hide behind leaves and wait for unsuspecting heroes to walk past them. They gather in groups of ten…"

"Stop it."

"Quietly crawl onto their prey…"

"I said _stop it_."

"And then sink their poisoned fangs into the neck." Vaati grabbed Link's neck. Link yelped.

"AAAH!"

The sorcerer cackled in glee, "Link! You're scared of spiders?!" Vaati was clutching his sides, choking from laughter. "You should've told me!" He sniggered as Link recovered. He dodged Link's fist and scampered up the steps leading to the next room. "Come on, then. We're moving on."

Link angrily followed the laughing mage and tried to appear unafraid. His hands were still shaking. "Wipe that grin off your face."

"Hahahahahahahaha! Next time I build my castle I'll fill every room from floor to ceiling with spiders!"

As they ventured deeper into the temple, Link began to notice something strange. This wasn't like any dungeon crawl he had ever done. It was all too easy; hardly any traps, puzzles, or locked doors hindered their progress. The lack of monsters also helped. Link let Vaati have his fun of disposing the spider-like walltulas and the occasional Deku Baba, a carnivorous plant; The Hero of Time hadn't even raised his sword once.

"Vaati? Don't you think it's a bit strange that this dungeon is a bit too…easy?"

Vaati sneered, "Any dungeon is too easy for me." He twirled the boomerang around his finger.

"No no, I mean, seriously. This is weird." Link looked around the room they were now in.

There were three doors leading from the center platform; one to the left, one to the right, and one to the front. An ornate blue treasure chest was sitting in the middle below some odd jars that were hanging from above by something white and sticky. Link approached the treasure chest, ignoring the hanging jars. "Hey, Vaati, this treasure chest is empty!" He looked crestfallen. Link suddenly realized that Vaati hadn't followed him to the platform and was watching him smugly from a distance. He didn't entirely like the way the mage was smiling at him. "……Vaati?"

"Hiskreeeeeeeeee!"

Link quickly pivoted around and found himself facing an eight-legged menace. It was an enormous spider as large as him with an intimidating skull design on its abdomen.

"Yaaah!" Link let out a flurry of sword slashes until he had reduced the screeching spider into a twitching mass.

Vaati appeared next to Link looking disappointed. He took a glance at the mass that had once been a living thing. "You hysteric freak."

Link was breathing in short gasps. "I…_hate_ spiders."

"I can tell." Vaati shrugged, "It was just a Skulltula. You didn't have to give it the shredder treatment."

Link paused. "……Why are you the monster expert all of a sudden?"

"Because I decided to actually do some research on the local monsters before we left Hyrule, unlike you," Vaati scoffed. "Remember in the library? Monster Hunter's Field Guide? I don't like to throw myself into dungeons without knowing what I'm going to be dealing with."

Link looked at Vaati in disdain. "I guess you're not completely useless then. Next time, I want you to warn me about a monster instead of just giving me a cheeky grin."

Vaati pretended not to hear the comment, moved over to the treasure chest, and kicked the open lid shut. "I think 'future you' raided this dungeon before us."

Link calmed down. He brightened, "Hey, I'm pretty good." Vaati snorted and eyed the three doors, trying to decide which way they should go. A small, green, melon-sized insect caught his interest.

"Link, you know how we're broke, right?" Link eyed him suspiciously, but nodded in response.

"…and you wanted me to share my monster knowledge, correct?"

"Yyeeess…."

Vaati grinned. "Good. There's a Rupee Beetle over there by that wall," he pointed at the green bug that was scuttling across the leaves, "and I want you to hit it with your sword so it releases rupees. We'll get a modest income in return."

"Hold a sec. I don't like the way you're being so nice all of a sudden."

The mage shoved Link off of the platform and kicked him over to the bug. "I am _not_ being nice. Now go and do your work; I want to get rich." Link didn't even have time to complain because the green bug had noticed him and was closing in quickly for a bite. Link pushed it away with his boot and was surprised when the bug huddled into a ball and started flashing red.

"Vaati! You traito–"

_Kaboom!_

Vaati poked his head up from behind the empty chest. "Ugh, why are you still alive??"

Link seethed as he wiped grime and dust off of his face. "You're an idiot." He coughed and growled at Vaati. "Weren't we supposed to be working together now? You need my help to get out of this mess."

Vaati jumped down and approached the left-hand door. "I guess. But that doesn't mean I can't make it difficult for you, boy." He pulled it open and stepped through. Link sighed,

"I really don't know why I decided to let you tag along."

OXXXXXXXXXO

**fleets:** And we arrive at the Forest Temple. I'll get in another update by tomorrow if I'm...encouraged...by reviews (hopeful look).


	14. Twilit Parasite Diababa

A.N.: Ok, I _did_ say that I'd sneak in an update today if I was encouraged by reviews. Here's part 2 of the Forest Temple.

Disclaimer: see the previous ones :).

**Chapter 14: Twilit Parasite Diababa**

Link and Vaati made quick progress as they moved from one chamber to the next. They finally found themselves outside the great tree in open air. Two bridge segments stood parallel to each other. Beyond it was a door.

"…What…poor architectural planning…" Link said wonderingly at the large gaps between the 'bridges.' "How do they expect us to get across?"

Vaati squinted as he tried to get a better look at the segments. There was a small fan propped on the middle of each one. "Stand back. I know what to do." He threw the Gale Boomerang towards each fan. There was a strained creaking as the two segments slowly turned and connected, creating a walk-able path.

They quickly crossed the bridge. On his way across, Link observed more doors and rotating bridges in the distance. He tapped Vaati on the shoulder.

Vaati jumped and gave him a glare. "Don't touch me."

"How do you know we're supposed to be going this way?" Link thumbed the other doors. Vaati made a cursory glance and looked away. His eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.

"There's something beyond these doors that's…different. The binding curse isn't helping me determine what it is, but I can tell you this much," he moved through the door, "it's not friendly."

Link looked confused. "Then why are we heading straight for it?" The next chamber contained more rotating bridges over a bottom-less pit. Vaati threw the boomerang again and caused the segments to rotate.

"It doesn't belong here. Someone, i.e. Opal, called it here if I'm to take a guess. It's worth checking out." Vaati stopped. They weren't alone. He was about to warn Link when a dark blue, leathery face pulled back in a toothy snarl filled his view. It took a moment for him to realize it was dead.

"That was close." Link had shot an arrow. Vaati just nodded silently.

"We haven't encountered bokoblins until now. I think it's safe to say someone knew we were going to come here and sent over some monsters."

They moved through another door and entered a dark chamber. A chasm separated the two from the next door, and this time, there were no rotating bridges. Giant mushrooms were growing from the Western wall; a group of monkeys were huddled on the largest one.

Vaati attempted to blow them away with the boomerang, "I'll send them chittering down to their deaths."

"Wait." Link stopped him as one of the monkeys looked up and approached them. He assumed it was female by the pink flower it had hooked on its ear. It seemed to blush at the sight of Link.

Vaati elbowed Link, "Is that another one of your girlfriends?" Link gave him a warning swat with the flat of his sword.

The monkey began to make pleading motions and pointed a finger at the door across the chasm. It finished by pantomiming something frightening.

Vaati narrowed his eyes at the door. "We need to get over there."

Link squatted so he'll be eye-level with the monkey. "We'll help you, but we don't know how to get across." The monkey jumped up and down and signaled to its friends. They began forming a monkey chain by dangling down from a branch that had grown across the abyss. She thanked Link with her bulging eyes and gave him a quick kiss before joining the chain.

Vaati was cracking up.

"………………………………………………………………………Don't…………say anything."

"Was that your first one?"

"If you don't stay quiet I'm going to push you down that pit." Link's expression was misery itself. "I really don't like future me right now."

"Don't worry about it. That monkey could've been copying something it saw without knowing what it actually meant."

Link was surprised Vaati was trying to make him feel better. "Did I hear you right? Were you actually consoling me?" Vaati said nothing. "Thanks."

"No problem playboy."

Link frowned. So much for that. He stood up and prepared to jump and grab the monkey chain to reach the other side. As soon as Link had leaped and grabbed the bottom monkey's paws, Vaati threw in one more word.

"Careful! Your girlfriend's at the bottom!"

Link nearly lost his grip. He collapsed when he reached the other side. "Are you trying to KILL ME?!"

Vaati's laughter echoed around the chamber, "Idiot, that's what I've always been trying to do."

Link wearily called over to the mage, "Hurry up and come over here. I need to give you a beating or two."

Vaati stopped laughing and he uneasily scrutinized the chasm. He appeared reluctant to jump.

"What's the matter? Afraid of heights?"

Vaati snarled, "Who do you think I am?"

"Then jump already."

The mage hesitated. He never had to deal with heights like this without levitation abilities. If he missed, nothing was going to save him from an embarrassing death. Link watched the mage walk slowly along the edge of where he stood; this was going to take a while.

"If you're not going to do it, I know another way," Link called over. Vaati looked up as Link whistled and signaled the monkeys to leave.

"Link…what are you planning to do?" Vaati began to feel uncomfortable. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Link take out a clawshot.

"Nonononono NO. Put that away! I'll jump, just put that away!"

Link aimed, "Too late."

_Shing_…………latch (Argh!)………………(Oof!)

When Vaati arrived, Link casually threw him to the side where the mage skidded towards the door.

Vaati looked shaken. "D…don't…don't do that again."

Link towered over the pale sorcerer. "You _also _need to rethink who you're talking to."

Vaati steadied himself by a large gnarled vine; he had lost all energy to snap back. The mage had acquired a special hatred for the clawshots after his traumatic experience with them at Telma's bar, and Link using them against him was as worse as it could get. Meanwhile, Link cautiously advanced towards the final door and pressed his palm against the wood. His left hand gripped his sword tightly.

"Are you ready?"

Vaati nodded slowly and Link pushed the door open.

XXXXXXXXX

It felt a change in the air as the door of its lair opened and let in a soft gust of wind. The stagnant pool it resided in bubbled as it arched its two heads and rose to the surface; The Twilit Parasite Diababa welcomed its visitors with a deafening roar.

OXXXXXXXXO

--

**fleets:** The more I write about these two the more I like them. I wasn't sure how it would work out at first...especially with Vaati. It's pretty difficult to avoid OOCness when I have him in the same place as Link. I thought the pair wouldn't last for more than three chapters together.

**Vaati:** You've kept us together 8 chapters too long.

**Link: **You do remember you were the one who wanted to come along...

**Vaati: **Quiet, fool. I didn't have a choice.

Coming up next: Boss fight - Diababa.

--


	15. Return of the Blue Eyed Beast

A.N.: Vs. Diababa! Link and Vaati actually work together...I know...I'm shocked too...

Disclaimer: See previous

**Chapter 15: Return of the Blue Eyed Beast**

As soon as Link and Vaati stepped into the lair, the door slammed shut on its own. They were going to have to defeat the chamber's inhabitant if they wanted to leave. The Diababa was a mutated version of its smaller cousin, the Deku Baba. Two vine-like extensions snaked out of the putrid pool that filled half of the room, leading to twin eyeless viper heads. Both were large enough to swallow Link and Vaati whole.

"…Vaati, what did your monster book say about these two?" Link found his throat had dried. Vaati was gripping his boomerang so hard veins were popping out of his hands.

"It…it wasn't in the book."

The head to the right hissed and coiled, preparing to strike. It lashed out, snapping its open maw at Link; he barely had time to dodge its fangs, venom visibly dripping from the tips. Link gave it a quick slash across the top of its head and was in the process of regaining his stance when he saw the second head come up from behind. He was gratefully saved by the gust of wind that knocked the head's path away from him.

The first head, now bleeding a clear liquid from Link's slash, turned its attention to Vaati.

"Link, I need you to stab the bastard when he strikes again. I can't take him out with the boomerang alone." Vaati crouched, getting ready to jump out of the way. Link made a dash towards the mage. Suddenly, a sharp pain jolted through his leg; the second head now held him in its jaws. Link felt himself raised several feet into the air as the head reared back, keeping him in a vice grip.

Vaati cursed. He flung the boomerang towards the head with Link's leg and swerved away from the injured one as it snapped past him. The second head let go of Link, who found himself falling towards the septic water. Vaati maneuvered the spinning vortex towards Link, ramming him back towards safe land.

"Why weren't you as easy to fight when I had to face you?" the purple mage growled, "At least give them what you gave me."

Link pushed himself up and limped over to Vaati, "I'm trying, but it doesn't help that we're separated from them by a toxic pool."

The injured head moved in for another strike. It connected with Link's shield as he brought it up in front of him; the Hero of Time plunged his sword through its head before it could move away.

"Ggggroaaaaaaar!"

The Diababa writhed and jerked as it slipped back into the pool.

Link breathed a sigh of relief, "Only one more to go."

Vaati tensed as he eyed the remaining head. It had seemed to lose interest in the two of them, which struck him as odd. Just a few minutes ago it had attacked them with savage determination. Vaati noticed bubbles appearing on the surface of the still waters and figured the answer to the monster's queer behavior was going to come pretty soon. Link noticed them as well.

"…Let me guess. The first head that we supposedly killed is going to come back again."

On cue, the first head came roaring back out of the water.

"See? I knew it."

Vaati was more uncertain. "I don't think it's that simple," he kept his red gaze between the two heads. The pool bulged upwards before it suddenly exploded, revealing a colossal monster with a three-jawed head dribbling with saliva, a bloodshot yellow eye protruding from it's mouth's center. It was larger, bulkier, and more menacing than its other two heads.

"…I guess it didn't like what I did to its friend."

"I think the three are connected. We'll have to get rid of the central one if we want to defeat it." Vaati grabbed Link's arm and pulled him away from another strike from the smaller head. Link could no longer dodge attacks quickly because of his leg injury. "I hope you know how much it pains me every time I save you, Link."

The Diababa began to spout a rancid purple gas; the two hurried over to the far edge of the room to avoid it as much as they could. Link felt his nose burn and his hands tingle; the gas was poison. Vaati calmly stared at the boomerang before turning to Link. "I need bombs."

"What?" Link looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't you remember what I thought about giving you bombs?"

"If I wanted you to die now I would've already fed you to that thing," Vaati snapped. "Now hand them over before I decide to turn you into explosive bait."

Link watched uneasily as Vaati placed a bomb on the boomerang and lit its fuse. "How do you know it won't explode the minute you throw the boomerang?"

Vaati took aim at the Diababa. "I don't."

Link paled while Vaati smirked at him. "Hmph. I've plenty of confidence my skills won't let this explode in our faces." He hurled the boomerang towards the monster as the Diababa prepared to attack. It struck the central head at the base of its neck, sending it reeling from the bomb's explosion. The boomerang itself came back without a scratch on it.

The purple mage pushed Link over to the middle of the room as the giant toppled over onto the land. "Go! Finish it off!" Link raised his sword above his head and brought the sword down onto the beast's eye. It gave a high, shrieking wail before it began to shrivel up, the smaller two heads disappearing with it as well.

Wheezing, Link fell to the ground while Vaati tried to pull the previously locked door open; they needed some fresh air to escape the poison gas that the monster had belched out. The green hero squeezed his throbbing leg in pain where the Diababa had bit him. It felt as though something was lodged in the wound.

"Vaati, I think I'm poisoned."

Vaati tried not to appear concerned. "Good." He stood by the door for a little while, and then spoke up again, "Can you still walk?" The mage frowned and explained, "I can't have you severely disabled because I need you to get rid of Ganondorf for me. Otherwise, I'd kill you myself." Vaati then furiously glared around the Diababa's lair, "I can't believe we defeated that thing for nothing. It didn't even release a heart container!"

Link squeezed his eyes shut. "It's hot. I can't…I can't think straight. I need to get ba – Bark bark! _Whine_!"

Vaati watched in surprise as he saw his enemy turn into a heavy set wolf. It was forest green, and its blue eyes widened in shock as it saw furry paws where there should've been hands. Links shield and sword were strapped to its back.

"Ggggrrruff!" It turned to Vaati as though it were asking him for an explanation. Vaati decided to grin.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected. I hope you make a good pet, boy."

"Snarl." The fur along the wolf's back stood up as it angrily growled at the mage.

Vaati glared back, "Bad boy! Stand down! SIT!" Link involuntarily sat down at the command. "Growling at your master. I'll need to teach you a lesson if you do that again." Wolf Link tilted his head, confused, and then recommenced snarling when he realized what he had been made to do.

"GRRRR."

Vaati stooped to pick up a branch and waved it in front of Link. "Here, idiot, fetch!"

"Arf arf!" Link bounded towards the stick, wagging his tail. He stopped abruptly and flattened his ears when he heard the mage roaring with laughter. Link never felt so humiliated.

"Good boy! I'll give you a biscuit when we get back," Vaati nickered. He moved towards the open door. "Come, I think you'll be able to talk with your monkey friends now. Be a good doggie and ask them about the sword. They might know something."

"Ggrrrrruff ruff! _Snarl_."

OXXXXXXXO

**fleets:** It won't be TP without the appearance of wolf Link :P. And when it comes down to it, these two get along pretty well.

Link: Rrruff! Growl...whine (translation: You had better have been joking).

Vaati: Link! Give them your best puppy dog look.

Link: Grrrrr

Vaati: Fool, we want them to review.

Link:...(puppy dog look).

--


	16. Assistance from Cuccoos

A.N.: This might have been a bit rushed, so if there are mistakes...sorry. I was also listening to Green Day while I was writing this so...I wasn't quite focused on the writing at points. Let me know if you see mistakes!

I've also enabled anonymous reviews. I didn't realize I had it disabled :P

Thank you for your continued support!

**Chapter 16: Assistance from Cuccoos**

A figure stood by the blood stained floor where the pile of the dead Royal Guards had once been. It stood trembling, staring at its hands. _I lost…I lost control again…_

Opal had tried to create a portal in the Forest Temple to call forth the Diababa on Ganondorf's orders; instead, she had summoned the Twilit Dragon Argorok high above the temple in the City in the Sky as well. No doubt Lord Ganon would be more than happy with the result, but her lack of control over the portals caused her worry.

She knew well enough that her mind was already split in two; the half that was possessed and the half that was herself. However, Opal had begun to notice another presence slowly growing in strength, pushing away her identity as the Hylian girl with every portal she created. Her shaking fingers gently moved towards her face and cautiously brushed against her cheek. They touched small, cool bumps instead of skin.

Scales.

She was reverting back to her old self.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati had been right about Link being able to understand the monkeys, and the green wolf wished he'd never had gained his new abilities. The monkey with the flower had squeaked over towards the two and had begun to chatter in excitement.

You did it! We are forever in your debt, but where is my dear prince? I saw him go through that door to slay the monster but he hasn't returned.

Link stiffened. He was glad Vaati couldn't understand the monkey; it was bad enough the mage was taking advantage of his new state to humiliate him. Link growled, There was an accident…

The monkey stared at him in astonishment, and then began to wail. Oh, how unkind are the goddesses! I have seen the blue eyed wolf around these woods but I have never known he was my prince until now.

Link backed away nervously. He began to resent how his future self had been so popular among females of all ages and species. Back in his time, only Hylian girls his age had even looked at him. Not middle-aged women, not monkeys. _What had future me been thinking??_

The monkey continued her rant, Dogs, monkeys, we are eternal enemies. My family will never accept our love. But you have returned to me once more! It must be a sign that we were meant to be together!

Link was annoyed and highly disturbed. He bared his teeth. I don't want to be with you! Get rid of your fancies! The monkey's eyes widened and she burst into tears.

Vaati looked from the snarling wolf to the hysterical ape. "You're not a very good gentleman, are you?" Link snapped at the smirking mage. "I was kind to every one of the women I kidnapped, I'll have you know." He laughed, "Of course, I kept them bound immobilized so they wouldn't scream. It actually became pretty boring after a while."

Link growled at the monkey. Look, it's just monkeys should be with other monkeys ok? Now, he straightened up, we're looking for something called the Master Sword. We know it's around here somewhere, but we don't know where it is. We were wondering if you've seen something like it.

The monkey rubbed her eyes and sniffed. It's probably in the forest maze just outside the entrance of the Forest Temple. I have heard some of the humans refer to it as the Sacred Grove. She glanced shyly at the wolf. If I take you there, will you – 

Forget it, the wolf snarled. She looked disappointed, but seemed to understand.

All right. I'm sorry. Follow me.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati leaned against a dead tree as he watched the wolf scratch itself behind the ears. They were waiting for the monkey that had scampered off towards the village to find something they needed to progress across a large gap. It had been amusing to poke fun at Link's new predicament, but it had quickly turned monotonous after Link refused to be irked by Vaati's comments.

It had been a while, _two hundred years? Five hundred?_, since Vaati had exchanged words with someone. Not "Die, fools!" "I'll defeat you Vaati!" exchanges; those didn't count as conversations.

Talking with Link had been strangely refreshing, and now that Link was reduced to growls and grunts, Vaati was a bit……disappointed (_really? No, that can't be right_)…that they wouldn't be able to converse. It reminded him of his more innocent days with Ezlo, the last period of his life where he had really talked with someone:

"Stupid boy! I told you not to wander off by yourself. You could've been killed!"

"I just wanted to see what the big people were doing, master Ezlo."

"The big people are dangerous, Vaati. They may accidentally kill us without knowing what they're doing."

"Then why do we help them?"

He wondered what his old master was doing right now. He grunted, _probably dead by now, old man_. He couldn't help but chuckle as he thought about the position he was in right now. _If you saw me now, you'd probably die from shock._

He looked at the wolf again. Pity he was going to have to kill him when their little adventure concluded.

XXXXXXXXX

The monkey returned with two cuccoos following her. She called to Link. I've brought over some friends that are willing to help your partner cross the gap.

The white cucco clucked and fluttered, It'll be an honor serving you sir! We will not disappoint the Hero of Time!

Its partner, a brown speckled bird, dipped its head. We will try our best to carry your friend over to the Sacred Grove. I think we'll manage, she doesn't look too heavy.

Link snickered at the cuccoo's comment and glanced over to the mage.

"What are you looking at?" Vaati demanded.

Yes, I'm pretty sure _she_ won't be too much of a problem. Link turned to the monkey. Can you demonstrate how these two are going to get us across the gap?

The monkey nodded and waved at Vaati to get his attention. She then grabbed a leg from each cuccoo and jumped off a tree trunk. The cuccoos were able to fly her some distance over the grass before she hit land. Vaati glared at Link. "Do you know how degrading this is? This just reminds me how I'm reduced to maneuvering through air using cuccoos!" Link barked at Vaati before looking at the two birds.

How will I get across? I don't think I'm as light as Vaati in my current state.

The brown cuccoo cocked its head. Well, sir, we didn't think you'd require our assistance. We've seen you jump across the chasm before.

Oh… Link faltered. He could see he just might be able to jump across towards the other side by first landing on a narrow branch that extended from a neighboring tree. He took a deep breath. Well here goes nothing.

Link made a leap towards the branch and quickly pushed off towards the gigantic tree trunk that created a platform he could land on. He extended his claws to stop himself from falling off the edge. Link swore his heart had stopped.

Your turn, mage! Link barked.

Vaati glowered at the two cuccoos waiting expectantly. "If you let me fall I'm going to snap your necks in two, understood?"

How rude. Did you hear that? She wants to kill us for helping her! The white bird clucked indignantly.

Women…, the brown one shook its head sadly, you can never really know why they're so mad at you….

Vaati gripped the two birds by their legs and jumped off towards the trunk where Link stood waiting. He cursed the entire way across.

And what foul language. She needs to be taught some manners, this girl. The cuccoos addressed Link after Vaati nearly threw them down to their deaths in anger. You should keep an eye on this girl. She's too temperamental; she might kill you if you set her off.

Link chuckled, I'll be careful. Thank you for your assistance and your patience. Can I ask you to wait here for a couple of hours so you can help us across again when we get back?

We are only too proud to help you, sir! The brown one fluttered. Even though we do not appreciate your friend's behavior, we believe she has good reasons for her actions.

Link marveled at the birds' optimism.

"You dumb mutt! Hurry up and take us to the sword."

Wow. Good reasons? Just wow.

Link howled thanks to the monkey and the cuccoos before following the purple sorcerer deeper into the woods.

OXXXXXXXXO


	17. Into the Sacred Grove

A.N.: Thank you for reviewing! I love love love reviews!

Disclaimer: See (sigh) previous

**Chapter 17: Into the Sacred Grove**

It gradually became darker as the two pressed deeper into the forest. Link couldn't tell if it was because the sun was setting or because the thick growth was blocking the sunlight. They passed a glittering pool, slivers of light playing tricks on the eye as it danced across the water. Ancient trees covered by moss stood over them, droplets of water occasionally dripping from their leaves and landing on the travelers' heads. The place was truly astounding.

They continued on, climbing over decaying logs and moving under tunnels created by roots pushed above the earth long ago. Link continued to appreciate the scenery until Vaati stopped in his tracks.

"……We're going in circles."

Link looked at him, puzzled.

"Take a look around! We've passed that pool before."

Sure enough, they were back at the shallow pool they had passed a while ago. Vaati crossed his arms. "You're a dog now,"

"Snarl"

"…………ok, a wolf, same thing. Don't you have special animal instincts that can lead us in the right direction?"

Link barked a "no."

The mage stared at his foot, grimy from the dirt. Enchanted forests were difficult things to get out of if one didn't know the right turns. The Lost Woods that had held the Four Sword was rumored to have turned some unlucky Hylians into Stalfos after they became lost in the maze. Come to think of it, they may have even stumbled upon the future Lost Woods.

Funny what thoughts you have when you find yourself in trouble; the first thing that came up in Vaati's mind was the cuccoos that were probably condemned to wait on them forever. He began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Vaati and Link were caught in surprise at the sudden question. They whirled around to find the owner of the voice, but no one was there.

A tinny laugh sounded from somewhere above, "Eeheehee, you look like you're lost." Link barely heard a soft honk from a trumpet. "Play with me to pass the time!"

There was a rustle as something fell from the trees. No, not something. _Somethings._ The wolf tensed and began to snarl. Vaati took Link's reaction as a hint that whatever was coming was going to try to hurt them.

"Ggggrrraaar," Link leaped at one of the approaching shadows while Vaati threw his boomerang towards the others. They collapsed pretty quickly, and Vaati saw that they were nothing more than large wooden scarecrow-like puppets. They still had a demented smile plastered on their faces.

"Eeheehee, follow me!"

A lantern lit up near a wooden corridor and moved away. "Link, let's go!" The wolf didn't need to be told twice as he ran after the withdrawing light.

The two followed the lantern through the woods, swatting down the Puppets that appeared along the way. It seemed to be leading them somewhere; the lantern never failed to wait for them when they stopped to take down the eerie floating enemies. It finally led them into a clearing in the woods. There were the remains of a fallen stone pillar in the center with tree trunks surrounding it in a wide circle. Standing in the middle of the pillar was the lantern's holder. It had a wooden face similar to the Puppets', a triangular grass hat propped on its head. Like the Puppets, it seemed incapable of standing straight with its head lolling to the side.

"Skull Kid," Vaati spoke. That could only mean they really _were_ in the Lost Woods.

"Eeheehee, catch me if you can!" The Skull Kid giggled and summoned more Puppets. It vanished and began to play a tune.

"Link! Take care of the Puppets! I'll teach the brat a lesson or two." Vaati concentrated on the melody. _Where are you, you twit?_ Vaati's eyes tried to focus in the dark as he curled his wrist, ready to throw the Gale boomerang.

Meanwhile, Link was leaping from one Puppet to the next, his muzzle contorted in a savage snarl. It wasn't so difficult to adjust himself to the wolf's body. All he had to do was to let its instincts take over. He was suddenly startled by a gale that whipped past him; Vaati had found the Skull Kid.

"Ow!" The odd creature fell from the trees and landed in front of a growling wolf. It giggled again and blew the horn in the wolf's face, causing Link to jump back, startled. "Eeheehee, you guys are good." The Skull Kid twirled around in a strange dance and disappeared in a spiral of leaves. "Thanks for playing with me!"

Vaati whipped up a vortex with his boomerang in frustration as the Skull Kid's giggles echoed away. "Pitiful fool, it ran away…"

Link sniffed the air. There was a slight breeze coming from a crack in an ancient wall. He padded over to the crack and poked his head through to find more ruins on the other side. Link managed to wiggle his way through. Vaati followed wordlessly.

Crumbling walls formed the outlines of what was once a great temple. Link trudged onwards, careful not to make noise lest he disturb the peace. Vaati was becoming increasingly agitated as they neared the marble stairs at the end of the temple and he twirled the boomerang over and over to keep himself distracted.

At the end, they found what they had been looking for; the Master Sword. It sat proudly in the Pedestal of Time, and for one insane moment, Link felt the sword was sentient. He felt himself scrutinized, gauged, and evaluated for worthiness. He was so engrossed with the sword it took him a few minutes to realize Vaati had stopped at the foot of the stairs. Link narrowed his eyes at the mage, remembering Vaati had played a similar trick at the Forest Temple.

Vaati frowned. "…………I don't want to go near…I mean…it's nothing." Link continued to stare. The mage twirled his boomerang before muttering, "Look, it's called the Blade of Evil's Bane for a reason. I don't like it, and frankly, I don't think the sword likes me either."

As though in answer, the yellow jewel at the sword's hilt appeared to glow for a second.

Vaati turned his back on Link, "Just hurry up and grab the sword. We'll figure out what to do with your wolf appearance later." Another twirl with the boomerang. "Go on, what are you waiting for?"

Link faced the sword. He had not taken more than one step towards it when the sword suddenly radiated an intense light, threatening to send him flying down the stairs.

"Grrrrrowwlll," Link pushed himself against the force and tried to keep his eyes open. Just as he thought he wouldn't be able to continue fighting against it, the force weakened. At the same time, he felt something leave his right leg.

The Hero of Time dropped to his knees in front of the Master Sword. He brought his hands up to his face and turned them over. He moved them through his rusty blond hair and squeezed the hilt of his old sword.

"I'm Hylian again!"

"Good for you. Grab the sword, we're leaving."

"Can you sound any more excited?"

Vaati glared, "Just do it. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

Link hesitated before grabbing the sword, and then gingerly pulled it out of its pedestal. As soon as he did, four orbs of light appeared one by one in front of him. Vaati stepped back into the shadows as each orb revealed itself to be Hyrule's guardian spirits.

"_O, Hero of Time, one who takes the appearance of the divine beast, we are the spirits of light. You are the hero of legends, but you are not from this time…"_

Link nearly dropped the sword in surprise.

The spirit that appeared to be a cross between a goat and a wolf continued, "_I am Ordona, guardian of the province Ordon."_

"_I am Faron, warden of the Faron province,"_ spoke a lemur-like spirit.

"_Eldin, of Eldin province," _said the owl spirit.

"_And I am Lanayru,…"_

"…from the Lanayru province, yeah, we know," grumbled Vaati from his hiding place.

"…_from the Lanayru province," _finished the snake spirit. _"You have taken the Master Sword once more, but the blade has not accepted you as its master," _Lanayru said. Link noticed Vaati hiss under his breath, probably upset that they were far from completing their adventure. _"It does not recognize you as the Hero of Time. You must pass its test to prove yourself worthy."_

"What do I have to do?"

Eldin raised its wings, "_There has been a disturbance in time. A creature from the past has reappeared to terrorize the denizens of the City in the Sky."_

Link decided he knew where this was going. "So, I have to save the people in the City in the Sky for the sword to accept me."

"_The sword's test does not end at the City in the Sky,"_ Faron said, "_You must return to the Sacred Grove for its final challenge. Only then will you wield the blade's true power."_

The spirits began to disappear. "_Find the man by the name of Fyer. He will aid you in your quest. O Hero of Time, make haste. A dark presence lingers at Hyrule…"_

XXXXXXXX

Vaati was in a foul mood. "We went through all that trouble to get a sword that needs you to pass tests, tests!" He stormed off into the Lost Woods, "That's what I hate about divine beings. They sit back in their cozy little temple and watch and complain as their world goes crumbling to dust. They let some numbskull like you do their dirty work."

"Vaati, that's blasphemy."

"If I cared I wouldn't have tried to take over Hyrule."

Link sighed, "I guess that's true." He watched Vaati step over a log. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole mess of you losing your magic is just the goddesses' way of punishing you."

"Shut up. Come on, we're going to look for this Fyer fellow."

OXXXXXXXO

**fleets:** Mmmmm I'm a bit sad I got rid of wolf Link, but it had to be done.

Coming up: Land of Fantastication

--


	18. Fyer and the Land of Fantastication

A.N.: Meh, I had this done. Why not submit it? :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. Wish I did, but I don't. I own OCs.

**Chapter 18: Fyer and the Land of Fantastication**

"Fyer…Fyer…where have I heard that name before?" Link and Vaati were now back in Hyrule's market place. They had chased after the Skull Kid again to exit the Lost Woods and received help from the loyal cuccoos to return to the Faron Woods. Vaati had not been too pleased with the birds because they were reminders of his current helpless state, and Link had to persuade him firmly not to hurt them. They spent the night resting at Link's house; well, Link slept in the house. Vaati had slept outside. Other than that, the return to Hyrule had been relatively eventless.

Link tapped his chin, "I'm sure someone mentioned his name when we were at Hyrule…"

"I'm sure of that." Vaati said flatly.

Link went over to a Goron who was selling spring water. "Excuse me sir, have you heard of –"

"Shut up and follow me." Vaati yanked Link away.

"What was that for? I was going to ask him –"

"I _said_ shut up and follow me." The wind mage pulled Link along towards the gates leading outside Hyrule. Link stole a glance towards the red-eyed sorcerer muttering something under his breath.

"Where are we going?"

Vaati let out an exasperated sigh. "You'd be dead if you were Ezlo's apprentice."

"Who's he?"

"For the last time shut up and follow."

Vaati led the way towards Lake Hylia. Or rather, a bridge that passed over Lake Hylia. He stopped and looked down over the edge. "There," he pointed at a small, colorful, red-roofed shack that was floating over the lake, "I think that's where we'll find Fyer."

Link craned his neck, and then a look of recognition passed over his face. "Fyer! The one who runs the amusement park at Lake Hylia!" He grinned at Vaati. "You'll get along with them, I'm sure."

"I really hate how you're taking advantage of my binding curse."

Link looked around the edge of the lake, "How are we going to get down there?"

Vaati took another look over the edge. The fall was a long one, but he didn't want to waste more time talking to people looking for a way to the lake. Besides, the water looked deep enough to absorb the impact. "Jump."

"What?!"

"You're going first. You manage to survive the strangest situations." Before Link could draw his sword, Vaati had shoved him over the edge. Link caught Vaati's sleeve, sending them both down. Vaati caught the stone railings.

"Stupid boy, LET GO!"

"I'm not going to die without taking you with me!"

Vaati gritted his teeth as his grip slipped. "You fool." He hissed as his hand left the stone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Link regained consciousness to find they had both washed over to the entrance of a temple beneath the bridge they had jumped from. He was thankful the currents had pushed them somewhere safe. Vaati was sitting against a stone serpent by the edge of the temple entrance, squeezing water out of his hat.

Link coughed out water, "Why are you so reckless? Can't you have waited before you decided to do something like that?"

Vaati shook his hat before putting it back on his head. "I learned a lesson a long time ago that waiting doesn't do you any good." Link arched his eyebrows in confusion at the cryptic comment. Vaati stood up. "Stop complaining, we're where we wanted to be."

Link wiped water off of his face, "You could've killed us both."

"If it actually worked you would've died alone."

"Stop pretending like you want to kill me. You can't do anything by yourself anymore."

Vaati bristled. "You have no idea how much I want you dead, boy. Three times your incarnations appeared before me and three times I was thwarted. If it weren't for you I would've had ultimate power by now."

"What would you have done with ultimate power?" Link was curious.

The mage became quiet as he stared across the lake.

"You don't know?"

Vaati scowled. "It's a shame you're right I can't kill you yet, fool."

"Wait, wait. You're going through all this trouble to get ultimate power and you _don't know why?_"

"Some water seeped into your head, it seems."

"You _really_ don't kn –"

"Quiet. We're going to find Fyer."

XXXXXXXXXX

They approached the strange house that floated on Lake Hylia. There was a hunchbacked old man with his elbow placed lazily onto a large music box. He was wearing a pink top with a Bullet Bill stitched onto the right sleeve, a beer belly stuck out from under his shirt. The man perked up as he saw visitors nearing, his clown face paint crackling with the movement of his features.

"Well well well, you still like the Land of Fantastication huh?"

Link looked from the man to Vaati and back. "Me?"

"Who else?" The clown resumed looking depressed. "You were pretty much our first regular customer."

Vaati grinned. "Can't be laughing about the Land of Fantastication now, fairy boy. Future you liked it."

Link growled. He pushed Vaati over to the clown. "Vaati here happens to be a fan of yours. He insisted he change his appearance to match yours."

The man was struck dumb, "I…I…have a fan?"

Vaati grabbed Link's collar, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just getting back at you for poking fun at me."

The clown broke into a laugh, "If you're a fan, well, I guess I'll let you take the first ride for free hehehe. Not to mention you're with Link here. You're our special customers!"

Vaati shoved Link into the lake before speaking to the clown. "We're looking for someone named Fyer. He's supposed to be around here, do you know where he is?"

The clown's face fell. "I guess it was too good to be true. You can't be a fan if you didn't know my name was Fyer." He heaved a sigh, "All right. What do you two want?"

Link came gasping out of the water. He crawled onto the wooden deck as Vaati answered, "We want to reach the City in the Sky. We heard you'll be able to help us." Fyer scratched his chin before pointing his finger at an enormous canon on the other end of the walkway they were standing on.

"I don't know about no cities in skies, but you can probably use that baby over there to take you someplace high like that." Vaati looked at the canon with unease. As the mage opened his mouth to say something, Link grabbed his foot and sent him splashing into the lake.

"So, Mr. Fyer, have you seen me using that canon before?" Link asked as he shook water off of himself. He ignored the spluttering mage.

"Of course, my boy! You were the one who asked me to fix it for you." The clown exclaimed. "You were gone for a while, but you came back. How, I don't know."

Link nodded. "Can you show us how to operate it again? I'm afraid I've forgotten."

Fyer shrugged, "You just climb in and away you go."

"All right. Thank you Mr. Fyer!" Link began to walk towards the canon while avoiding Vaati's attempts to push him back into the lake. Fyer shook his head.

"Such a shame he wasn't a fan." He watched as Link and Vaati began to argue who was going to be the canon victim first. "………The way they bicker. You'd think they were old wives or somethin'." The clown stuck his hands into his pockets. "Best friends, I wish I had one of those when I was their age. They're really lucky. They really are."

OXXXXXXXXXO

**fleets: **R&R please! And thank you for your support :D


	19. The City in the Sky

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda related themes, people, things, plots, etc. I own OCs and this particular story-line.

**Chapter 19: The City in the Sky**

Link lay on the grass, heavy with water soaked into his tunic. He was exhausted from the canon flight that had sent them into a small pool on a floating city. It didn't help the air was thinner and was therefore more difficult to breathe. Vaati appeared equally tired as he wearily tried to empty his ears of water. He flicked his boomerang and spun it around himself to dry his clothes.

"Gracious! You're that young gentleman who helped us back to the City in the Sky." A creature that looked like a tan cuccoo with a bald human head came running towards Link. A small head with wings flew behind it.

"Er…I'm sorry, it seems I've forgotten who you are," Link said, unsure about what he thought about the two beings.

The bird-human hopped in surprise. "Well, that is a problem, certainly. I should introduce myself again. You may call me Ooccoo, and this is my son, Ooccoo Jr." She (so assumed Link) noticed Vaati. "Gracious! You seem to have a visitor."

"That's Vaati. He doesn't like people very much so you should be careful."

Ooccoo watched the mage curiously as he ignored them. "My, that's a shame. But now that you're here can we ask you to get rid of the dragon that has made its home at the wind tower? It has been giving us problems, gracious yes." Her beady eyes bore through Link.

"Actually, we came here after we heard about a monster that had appeared at the City in the Sky," Link told her. "Um, you don't seem very concerned…"

Ooccoo clucked, "Gracious! It wouldn't do to fret about a problem. I've been teaching my dear son to calmly think about something before panicking."

The flying head spoke, "Momma's strict about that. I'm not even allowed to cry."

Link was bewildered, "Oh. I'm sorry."

Ooccoo strutted away towards a small egg-shaped house. "You're both soaked, gracious yes! You two kind boys should rest for a day before you enter the wind tower."

Link and Vaati watched her leaving figure in confusion as a black armored dragon roared past a pillar and knocked it down. She clucked another "Gracious!" and continued to waddle towards the house.

"I was expecting more of a screaming people everywhere welcome," Vaati said.

Link nodded, "Me too. I kinda lost motivation to go fight…"

XXXXXXXXXX

When somebody offers you a place to stay, Link believed, it was only proper that you remember their names. He soon discovered that this belief was going to be challenged, as he attempted to learn the names of the strange creatures that resided in the house.

"Your name was…?"

_Garblegarblegarblegarble_

"…I'm sorry, I couldn't catch that."

Vaati was amused. "That's in the old tongue. I didn't expect it to still exist in this era."

"What did it say?" Link asked.

"She said her name was Ooccoo."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't question me. I know more than you."

Link sighed. "Ok, it's a pleasure to meet you Ooccoo." He turned to the next one. "My name is Link. Thank you for letting us rest here. May I ask for your name?"

_Garblegarblegarble_

Vaati snickered. "She said her name is Ooccoo."

Link rounded on Vaati. "Are you being serious?"

"It's not my fault they're not very creative with names," the mage said simply.

_Garblegarblegarble_

"She says they're all named Ooccoo."

_Garblegarblegarblegarble_

"…and that they've never had names until you asked."

Link stared at the little creature watching him. "How can you not have names?"

"Don't be racist. Just because it doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean it doesn't make sense to them."

Link sighed. "All right. Ooccoo, Ooccoo, Ooccoo, and…Ooccoo…" he glanced over to Vaati who was still sniggering, "………I'll be sure to remember your…names."

"Don't offend one of them by forgetting."

_Garblegarblegarblegarble_

"Oh, and Ooccoo says she wants to thank us for agreeing to take out the dragon."

Link put a hand to his face. "Can I rename them? Ooccoo 1, Ooccoo 2…anything! It's going to become confusing."

_Garblegarble……garble?_

"Ooccoo doesn't understand why 'Ooccoo' is a problem."

"……"

_Garblegarble_

"Neither does Ooccoo."

Link looked worn out. "I'm going to go sleep."

The Ooccoo who could talk Hylian came back with a plateful of food balanced on her head as Link left to go sleep. "Gracious! Where did the green gentleman go? I hope he did not get impatient, gracious no."

"He was a little overwhelmed by Ooccoo," Vaati said.

She turned around to the other four in the room. "You weren't rude to the gentleman?"

_Garblegarblegarble_

"Gracious! He didn't like your names?" She turned to Vaati. "Gracious me, whatever could be the problem with Ooccoo?"

The mage shrugged. "He couldn't handle it."

Ooccoo pondered over this, and then clucked, "It must be the accents, poor dear. Gracious! The old language is a bit different from Hylian. Well, please let the gentleman know that he should get something to eat."

Vaati grinned, "I'll go tell him Ooccoo brought some food."

XXXXXXXXX

The next day, after a long confusing conversation with Ooccoos, Link and Vaati prepared themselves to tackle the wind tower.

"Do you know the fastest way up the tower?" Link asked Ooccoo.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," Ooccoo jumped. "Do you have the double clawshots?"

Vaati paled, while Link held them out. "These two?"

"Then you do not have to go find them, gracious no! Just go straight through until you make it to the tower. You will have to use the clawshots to get across the wind turbines." She bobbed her head, "It should be relatively quick."

Link handed one to Vaati. "Here, this dungeon is probably going to require us to use clawshots often. I have two, take one." The mage held it uncertainly before wordlessly putting it on his left arm.

"Good luck! We will have lunch ready for you if you return by noon," fluttered Ooccoo.

They heard her queer "Gracious me!" as they walked towards the corridor leading to the main tower. "It's like she's sending us off on a godessdamn picnic," Vaati griped. "I don't see why we can't let the dragon stay if they don't seem to care."

"Remember, we're also doing this for the sword," Link said as he spun the holy weapon in an arc.

Vaati sliced a Baba Serpent in two and kicked the hissing head down the edge of the floating city. "This better be worth it, then."

OXXXXXXXXO

--

Ok, so I figured I should've started this a while ago. Here's the reviewer's corner. I know some stories have'm :).

**Reily96**: Thanks for reading! First reviewer too. Now now, you would also be angry if you were Vaati XD

**Cartoonmarth**: I hope I answered your TP Link request...A talkative one, I admit.

**sakurahanaalice**: You're right, Vaati can use the boomerang more effectively than Link!

**H-bomber: **I'm glad you like it! I won't let this die.

--


	20. Clawshot Mayhem

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. Nintendo does. I own OCs. Please don't use without permission.

**Chapter 20: Clawshot Mayhem **

Vaati couldn't help but marvel at the architecture of the City in the Sky. He couldn't fathom how the Oocca, with their short stubby wings and clumsy legs could manage to build a city that was far more technologically advanced than Hyrule. They had created a system of wind turbines that powered a generator to keep the city on the air.

The first chamber was a long corridor with smooth white pillars hanging from the ceiling. Some parts of the floor were covered by blue blocks they could walk on, but the Oocca had apparently been too lazy to complete the floor because they could fly. Some were walking impossibly across the walls by gripping the chained sections that served as a form of path.

Vaati imagined the City held some characteristics of his own Palace of Winds, but he was sure this wasn't the remains of his former home. It was far too ancient. If anything, it was possible the Wind Tribe who had lived in the Palace of Winds before him had copied the Oocca. He stepped onto one of the blocks and tried to look for a way to cross the incomplete floor.

"Hey Vaati…you're sinking," Link pointed out. Vaati looked down and noticed the block he was standing on was rapidly falling down. He hastily jumped back onto the main platform.

"I guess floors were optional for the Oocca," the mage said as he watched the blue block fall further away from the City.

Link stared after it as well. "I wonder what the people down in Hyrule are going to think of blocks falling from the sky…" He looked around. The next platform that appeared sturdy was too far away to jump. "Any ideas?" He asked.

Vaati focused on one of the Oocca that was walking along the wall some distance away. He fired the clawshot a few times experimentally before the corners of his mouth curled into a nasty smile. "Watch, Link. I'm going to make these cuccoos help us whether they want to or not."

"I hope you're not going to do anything drastic…" said Link, as he nervously eyed Vaati's clawshot.

Vaati fired, and the clawshot came back with a hysterical Ooccoo.

_Garblegarblegarblegarble!_

The mage dangled the creature upside down in front of him. "Now, listen carefully. We're here to get rid of that dragon of yours even though you don't seem particularly worried about it. Think of it as a nice little gesture from the people down below. We're doing it for free, understand? _For free_. So I hope you won't complain if we ask you to carry us across to the other side."

_Garblegarblegarble!_

"Good. Be quick."

"……I think Ooccoo would've helped us if we just asked nicely," mumbled Link.

Vaati scoffed, "That _was_ asking nicely."

Link looked to the sky. "Ok. I guess from you that was pretty nice. At least you didn't threaten to kill it."

"Hmph."

As soon as Vaati made it over to the door, he shooed the startled Ooccoo back towards Link. The Hero of Time decided he ought to apologize to the frightened thing later.

The next chamber was a large crossroads. The two doors to the left and right were separated by a gap in the floors. Vaati ignored them and continued towards the door that was straight ahead. "Ooccoo said we only had to go straight, right?"

Link nodded. "Thank goodness we won't have to terrorize more Oocca to reach the other doors."

A sharp wind hit the two as they found themselves outside once more. The former wind mage closed his eyes and let the breeze pass over him. Link, on the other hand, had wrinkled his brow in annoyance as the wind threatened to blow away his hat. Link's annoyance turned to dread when he first observed the frightening fall, then the spinning turbines, and then the door far across in the distance. "So that's what she meant when she said we're going to need double clawshots…"

"Hm?" Vaati opened his eyes. They didn't have their usual sharp glint, as though he were thinking of something else. "What's the problem, boy?"

"That. I can only think of one way to get across and that's to let one person use both clawshots. We can't share one each between us."

Vaati turned sharply to Link. "What are you suggesting?"

Link looked away. "You know, before I tell you I'm going to make it very clear I don't like my suggestion either." He paused.

The mage stared coldly at Link. "Out with it."

It took a good five minutes of awkward silence before they began to slowly progress across towards the other side.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Sching_…………latch.

_Sching_…………latch.

"Link?"

"What?"

_Sching_……………latch.

"…This is gay."

Link was currently making his way across using the clawshots to latch onto the turbines. Vaati was holding onto Link in a piggyback position, as the two had not been able to think of any other plans to get them both across.

Link sighed, "I warned you. I was hoping you'd be able to think of something better."

Vaati's face contorted into a pained grimace. "Opal and Ganondorf are going to suffer for this."

When they finally reached the other end, Vaati moved towards the edge and quietly stood by himself to deal with his own demons. He had his fist against his forehead, his expression one of utter shame. Link decided to leave him alone.

When Vaati did speak, he sounded defeated. "Ok. Let's go find that dragon."

XXXXXXXXX

They found themselves inside the main tower. The dragon was waiting at the top, and they could hear its occasional angry roar over the noise of the fans. Vaati was shadowed by gloom when he saw they were going to have to repeat the double clawshot maneuver to reach the top using the turbines. He snapped back to attention when he heard a strange hissing sound.

"Link, look over there." He pointed at two helmed reptiles hovering above them by beating their leathery wings. They were both armed with a sword and a shield.

"What are they? I don't think I've seen them before." Link didn't keep his eyes off of them as they began to circle the air.

Vaati took out his boomerang. "They're Aeralfos. We're going to have to ground them." The purple mage let loose a vortex towards one of them. The Aeralfos brought up its shield and the boomerang bounced off harmlessly.

"Hsk hsk hsk hsk."

"Laughing? At me? You're going to regret it, fool," Vaati hissed.

The laughing lizard gracefully swooped down and attempted to stab the fuming little mage. Link managed to push him out of the way. "Don't forget you're not all powerful anymore."

His comment just succeeded in angering Vaati further. "I'll show them! Don't interfere, I don't need your help!"

Link shrugged and faced the second Aeralfos. "Your choice. Don't come to me pleading saying you changed your mind."

"LINK! YOU'RE NEXT!" Screamed Vaati as he aimed his clawshot at the Aeralfos taunting from one of the turbines. The Aeralfos brought its shield up again only to find it yanked away from its claws.

"Hskaaaaaaa," the reptile appeared to frown and circled around before landing in front of Vaati.

Link had observed Vaati disarm the Aeralfos with the clawshot and was now trying to do the same to the one he was facing. Unfortunately, this one had also seen its partner lose its shield and was keen to avoid the clawshot. Link was becoming tired of watching his clawshots dodged. "All right, let's try this one then." He brought up his bow and aimed a shot at the flying monster.

The Aeralfos was fast enough to dodge the clawshots, but it couldn't beat the superior speed of Link's arrows. It had no choice but to bring its shield up. Link took this moment to take away its shield.

The lizard had seen it coming, and wasted no time to dive straight for Link. Their swords connected. "Hissssssssss."

Link jumped back and returned his sword into its sheath. He showed his bare hands to the Aeralfos. "Look, I'm defenseless."

The monster's yellow eyes swiveled from one hand to the other, suspecting some sort of trick. Deciding the hero really was dumb enough to taunt it, the winged reptile made a quick stab towards Link. Its eyes widened when it saw Link jump into the air and crash the sword through its neck. "That's the Mortal Draw. You shouldn't let your guard down like that." Link addressed the dead beast. Collecting some rupees, Link looked around for the mage to see how he was faring.

Vaati continued to block the monster's sword swings with the shield. He hated how he was in a defense position.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Link called over.

"Quiet, you fool! I used to be the most feared sorcerer alive!" Vaati pressed his weight against his back foot and swung the boomerang towards the Aeralfos' sword. The wind caught the metal and brought it back towards the mage.

Link put a hand on his chin. "You know you're terrible with the sword…"

Vaati kept his piercing red gaze on the monster that was trying to decide its next move. "Who said I was going to use it as a sword?" The mage spoke in a dangerous calm. He lunged at the monster and threw the steel like a spear. The Aeralfos was caught by surprise and failed to dodge the flying sword.

Later, Vaati kicked the dead monster. "Next time you should know who you're dealing with before laughing."

Link stared at the brutally murdered Aeralfos. "You need to calm down. I mean, you really have issues with anger management."

Vaati glared. "No one laughs and gets away with it."

"See what I mean? You need to calm down." Link leaned on his sword. "Now, are you going to cool down? I don't want a psychopath on me when we start going up the turbines."

Vaati became sober at Link's words. "There's no other way to get up there…?"

Link shook his head, "Nope. Afraid not."

Vaati opened his mouth to say something, stopped, and began again. "…All right. It's not like my pride can die any more than it already has."

OXXXXXXXXXXO

A.N.: Dungeon chapters are blah to write. Hopefully this one wasn't blah to read.

**Reily96: **I get you. My happy jar smashing was put to a stop when I saw that creepy head pop out of one them (shiver).

**H-bomber:** Thank you!

Link: The reviewers seem to be amused.

Vaati: I don't see what's so hilarious about this...

--


	21. Enemies until Forever

A.N.: A more sobering chapter...

**Chapter 21: Enemies until Forever**

They reached the rooftop in silence. Vaati appeared reluctant to utter a single word as though forgetting about their climb up the tower would render it nonexistent from history.

The dragon perched on top of one of the four pillars that framed the edge of the roof. It was in full armor, from head to tail, and there were occasional grating sounds as the onyx armor slid past each other. Link wondered if the creature could see at all through the metal that surrounded its head.

The beast raised its wings; the Twilit Dragon Argorok didn't take kindly to intruders on its turf.

"Was the dragon in your monster book?" Link asked as he tried to figure out how to damage the dragon that took to the air.

"No. I don't think the people who wrote the book thought its readers were going to go search for the big ones," Vaati answered. They ducked as the dragon roared over their heads. "We're going to have to ground this one like the Aeralfos."

Link rolled to the side as fire erupted past where he had been standing. "What? You mean with these?" He looked at his clawshot with disbelief.

Vaati shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Link ran behind a pillar to take cover. "Did the Oocca rub off on you? You don't seem very worried."

The dragon had now positioned itself at the center of the roof, apparently preparing to blow them off the edge with its wings. Vaati calmly aimed the clawshot at the dragon's tail and fired. The dragon growled as it sunk a few feet towards the ground; Vaati hovered a few inches from the grass as he swung on the clawshot. "A little assistance, Link?"

Link didn't waste time as he fired his own clawshot at the dragon's hooked tail and yanked the chain. The dragon couldn't handle the additional weight and came crashing down, some of its armor cracking off. Link ran over to the mage and snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Hey, are you all right in there? What's wrong with you?"

Vaati finally gave him his usual glare. "Nothing's wrong, idiot. I just hate using these blasted things," the mage waved the clawshot in front of Link, "and I'm trying not think about them. Ok? The memories associated with these are the worst I've had in the past several hundred years."

"Roooaarrr!" The dragon struggled to get up.

"Well snap out of it or the dragon's going to kill us," Link growled. He raised his head towards the beast that was about to fly again. "Oh no you don't."

Link ran towards the black armor and climbed on top of the dragon's back. He fired the clawshot onto its neck so it wouldn't shake him off and began to chip away the armor with his sword. Argorok screeched and flew into the air.

Vaati nonchalantly watched Argorok carry Link away to the skies. He smirked, "Bye Link."

XXXXXXXX

Link struggled to hold on as the dragon corkscrewed around the City in the Sky. He cursed himself for thinking Vaati would help him defeat the dragon._ That doesn't mean I can't make it difficult for you, boy_. The mage's words rang around his head. For the umpteenth time Link wondered what insanity had caused him to take the annoying little thing with him.

The dragon began to crash into the marble pillars that riddled the City, trying to cause the flying rubble to throw Link off its back. Link caught a glimpse of Vaati sitting on the edge of the wind tower rooftop observing the show.

"That little bastard…" Link hissed through clenched teeth. He then saw Vaati point at an area somewhere below where he sat. Link noticed to his horror that Argorok was planning to ram itself into the tower where Vaati was pointing.

Link thought about his options, which were not very many. He could either go along with the dragon in which case he'd probably die, or he could attempt to jump off right before the dragon hit, in which case he'd also probably die. Option two might be more painless, if he fell unconscious during the fall down to Hyrule. Link took a deep breath and removed his clawshot from the dragon's neck.

"What the…?!"

"Rrooooooarrrr!" _Crash!_

Link collapsed onto the grass as Vaati pulled his clawshot away from Link's tunic. "Why must I always save you?"

Link appeared flabbergasted. "What…you? But…," he wiped sweat from his face, "I don't understand you. You try to kill me one moment and you save me the next."

Vaati remained silent.

Link crawled over to the edge to see what had happened to the dragon. He could see a lifeless tail smashed under a boulder; the dragon had become crazed to pursue a suicide attack. "…You know, sometimes, I think we have the potential to make a great team…"

Still silence.

Link pulled on the grass. "When this ends, are we –"

"What do you think?" Vaati was staring stonily ahead. "We continue where we left off. I'm going to destroy you, or you're going to destroy me." His face was hidden by the bangs that washed over his eyes. "Don't forget I'm only working with you so I can return to power."

Link sighed and picked dirt off of his boot. Vaati was a jerk, but…not really evil. Perhaps a little misguided, but not evil like Ganondorf. Absolute power corrupts absolutely; he wondered if Vaati had become less a villain because he had lost all his abilities. Link chuckled. _That's what happens when you go adventuring. Everyone who helps you begins to appear nice._

But no, that wasn't really it. Even when Link had fought Vaati as the raging black eye there was something…sad…about him. Like he was just trying to get back at the world for all the unfairness it had rained on him. Link shook his head. What was he getting all sentimental for? If this continued he really _was_ going to start thinking Tektites wanted to be friends with him.

Link stood up and followed the leaving mage, his purple cape billowing behind him. For now, he figured he shouldn't worry about the battle between them that was probably going to occur after all this was over for good.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I knew you two gentlemen would be able to defeat the dragon, gracious yes!" Ooccoo greeted them as they returned from the tower. "You caused us quite a fright when it began to crash into the towers, but I see you're safe." Link nodded, but didn't say anything. "Gracious! But were you two quick! We haven't finished preparing lunch yet." Ooccoo's head turned from the quiet Link to Vaati. "Did something happen between you two? You look quite depressed……gracious yes."

"We're fine. Thank you for your hospitality. We'll be going off now." Link said to his shoes. "If you have any more trouble, please let us know."

Ooccoo stared after the leaving hero in surprise. "Well. I hope the dear is feeling all right. Gracious!" She turned to Vaati who stood silently a few feet away. "Be a good friend and make sure he's taken care of." Ooccoo continued earnestly, "I've been watching you, gracious yes, and you aren't as cold as you pretend to be."

Vaati narrowed his eyes as his face darkened. "I should be leaving." He left the disappointed Ooccoo alone by the pool they had first landed in.

"Well I never." Her beady eyes turned to the clouds in the distance. "If only that gentleman would open up more," she whispered, "gracious yes…"

OXXXXXXXXXO

**H-bomber: **Yup! He would lose if it was conventional fighting.

I realized the reviewer's corner might not be a good idea if I continue daily updates...so I'll add reviewers for the respective chapters as they appear. Check up if you review, I might have answered on the next chapter :D.


	22. Separated

Disclaimer: see previous

**Chapter 22: Separated**

"_O Hero of Time, you have passed the holy sword's first test. Now you must prove yourself as the true wielder of the Triforce of Courage with its final challenge."_

Link held the Master Sword in front of him, "I'll do it. To save Hyrule, I have to." Vaati kept himself hidden behind the shadows of the battered walls of the Sacred Grove. The two had barely exchanged any words during the return from the City in the Sky.

Lanayru addressed Link, _"The sword will test your courage, strength, and,"_ it paused, "_your trust."_ Vaati scowled as Lanayru continued. "_We know of your presence, Sorcerer of Winds. Did you think you could hide from us?"_

Vaati stayed where he was. All this time he had wished someone would recognize his power, but now that his wish was granted, he wasn't sure he had made the right one.

Faron spoke gently, "_No matter, you must enter the Temple of Time. Tread carefully, the sword's final test will prove formidable." _They could hear the sound of ancient stone doors grinding open at the entrance of the Sacred Grove. "_O Hero of Time, O Sorcerer of Winds, may the blessings of the goddesses protect you."_

XXXXXXXXXX

"I don't believe in the blessings of goddesses," Vaati tossed his head, "and we're probably going to fail the third criteria."

Link was somewhat glad the mage had begun to return to his usual character. "What, you mean the 'testing trust' part?"

"Think about it. I hate working with you. I want to make your life as difficult as possible. I'm not going to willingly work with you."

Link shook his sword in warning. "The less you cause hindrances, the faster we'll finish. The faster we finish, the better it will be for the both of us. Don't be stupid and help me, all right?"

Vaati huffed, which Link assumed was the best answer he was going to get. After a while, Vaati muttered, "But I wonder why those spirits didn't try to get rid of me if they knew who I was."

Link shrugged. "I thought that was strange, too. Maybe they're not that powerful, considering they always require somebody to 'do their dirty work for them' as you described before."

The mage began to twirl his boomerang. "I don't know. Given my current state, they could probably wipe me out if they wanted to."

Link almost tripped. He stared at the sorcerer in shock. "That was the first time you actually admitted inferiority to something…. Are you feeling all right?"

Vaati snarled, "I did not. I could destroy them all if I was my old self. I just know I shouldn't fool myself by not acknowledging I'm totally pathetic right now."

"Someone's angsty."

"Quiet. I know how to be realistic." The mage climbed up the moss covered stairs and faced the Door of Time. "Come, we'll show that sword of yours we can handle anything it decides to throw at us."

"Work together with me this time, ok? No trying to kill me or passively watch me get killed."

Vaati sneered. "I'll suffer the noose of Hyrule before I do that."

XXXXXXXXXXX

The color faded away from the world as they stepped through the Door of Time and entered the past. The Sacred Grove stood standing in its full glory; high stained glass windows framed the marble walls and everything gleamed with a perfect polish.

"This is the past…" Link wondered aloud, "does it mean that if we leave the Sacred Grove, we'll find ourselves back closer to our time?"

Vaati moved his hands over a statue. "I don't think so. We're in the past, but this one appears to be an alternate reality of our past."

"…Explain please?"

The mage knocked the marble, thinking. "This is just a mockery of the past Sacred Grove. An illusion the sword created to test us." He looked around. "We probably won't be able to leave the Sacred Grove even if we tried."

Link nodded, and made his way towards the Pedestal of Time. "I wonder what the test is. There's nothing here." He suddenly felt the Master Sword give a slight tug towards the Pedestal. It was leading him there. "Ok then…I guess I'll follow the sword."

Vaati grinned. "And you thought I was crazy when I thought my boomerang could talk."

Link stood in front of the Pedestal of Time, unsure what to do next. He decided to put the sword back into its stand; it was the only thing he could think of.

"Whoa."

Transparent blue stairs appeared and the wall in front of him disappeared to reveal a corridor. The flash of color was refreshing to the monochrome world.

"The Temple of Time," Vaati whispered in awe as he began to climb the stairs. Link quickly followed him into the legendary temple.

They found themselves in a spacious marble room dominated by a large central bell. There was a door beyond it and staircases spiraling up along the Eastern wall leading to a chained door. Link approached the door beyond the bell, but found it shut tightly. "It's locked."

Vaati, meanwhile, was investigating an empty space next to the jammed door. He made a mental note of it before moving over to check the bell. "Hey Link? Remember that white rod you had? The one we had no idea what its purpose was?"

Link lit the two torches in the room, causing a treasure chest to appear out of thin air. "What, this thing?" He asked, as he took out the Dominion Rod from his inventory.

"Yeah," Vaati tried to get a closer look at the markings around the bell. "I have a feeling we'll find some use for it in this dungeon. Let me see it."

Link tossed it over to the mage and proceeded to take out a key from the treasure chest. "Why do you think we'll use the rod in this place?"

Vaati brought the Dominion Rod over to the bell and stood beneath it. The markings around the Dominion Rod and the bell began to glow green. "Some magical objects only work in certain locations." He looked down to where he was standing. Glowing green rings appeared on the floor. "I'm not sure wh–"

"Vaati! Get back!" Link shouted as the bell moved down over the mage. He was too late, and Vaati disappeared beneath the bell. When the bell raised itself again, Link gasped. The mage was gone.

XXXXXXXXXX

"– what it does………oh." Vaati cautiously stepped out from beneath the bell. He was in a dim room, stained glass all around the circular walls. He noticed he had warped to a different place in the dungeon. He tried waving the rod at the bell again to see if he could warp back to where he had been. Nothing.

"Great." Vaati said under his breath. He stood still to adjust his eyes to the darkness. There was one door in the room, but it was blocked by steel bars. He suddenly tensed. There was something else in the room watching him carefully.

"Show yourself, I know you're here," the mage hissed between his teeth. His eyes darted towards the shadows across the room. Armor clanked on the marble floor.

"Hero of Time, I challenge you to a duel. Win, and you will come one step closer to proving your worth to the Master Sword. Lose," Vaati backed away from the approaching figure as it drew an enormous double-edged sword, "and you will die."

Vaati felt his back press against the cool wall. He recognized the figure; he had ordered some of them to stop Link during his first reign. He also knew they were one of the most formidable monsters he had ever commanded. "Darknut," he choked.

OXXXXXXXXO

A.N.: Sorry for the cliff-hanger. Don't worry, I've been pretty good with the updates ;).

**H-Bomber:** I sure hope so :D

--


	23. Without Magic

A.N.: WARNING - This chapter is darker, bloodier, and contains more violence than previous chapters.

Disclaimer: see previous

**Chapter 23: Without Magic **

Link decided he should continue through the dungeon as fast as possible. He might have been leaving the helpless mage behind, but he determined that it was more than likely Vaati had activated a warp that led to a different area of the dungeon. The quicker Link was in going through the Temple of Time, the higher the chances of bumping into the troublesome sorcerer.

The temple seemed pretty straightforward. He was running up the narrow corridors, occasionally defeating keese. He struggled a bit with the Armos duo, a monster that took the form of moving statues, but he had managed to beat them by slashing them from behind. He had received a dungeon map in return. Link continued to run up the corridor until he reached a high-ceilinged circular chamber. There was a pen in the middle filled with…lots of moving white things. He couldn't find a way into the pen (and he didn't really want to go in there yet), so he stuck to checking out the perimeters.

Link ran around, dodging a laser from a Beamos on the way, and arrived at a stairwell. Two lizard monsters that he had seen when he had first found Vaati welcomed him at the bottom.

Link spun the Master Sword. "All right. If you two want to fight, that's fine with me."

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati was in trouble. Without his magic, he'd probably be lucky if he lasted more than half a minute sparring with the Darknut. How was he supposed to du…wait. Wait wait wait.

"Hold, hold. I'm not the Hero of Time. You're challenging the wrong person," Vaati said in the calmest voice he could muster. It came out in a tremor.

The Darknut hesitated, and Vaati almost smiled in relief until the knight brandished his sword once more and moved toward the mage in slow, deliberate steps.

"What? Why do you still come? You have no business with me, so I suggest you leave me alone." Nervousness began to creep into his voice again. He broke out in cold sweat when he heard the Darknut's next words.

"If you are not the Hero of Time, you are an intruder. Either way, I will fight whoever finds himself in my chamber. Prepare yourself."

XXXXXXXXXX

Link dashed up the stairs two at a time. He was forced to halt when he saw a section of the stairs had collapsed below. Link thought for a while, and then noticed strange grooves running alongside the wall. They looked familiar.

He rummaged around his inventory until he came upon the Spinner, the top-like item that had stumped them in Telma's bar. Link spun it a few times and put it against the grooves; they connected with a click. "That solves another mystery," he said as he hopped on and continued his way up the wall using the Spinner.

When he reached the top, he arrived at a central cog that could move up or down the chamber. Link referenced his map and found he should make his way towards the fourth floor. Before that, however, Link decided to check out the pen on the first floor. He might regret it, but then again he might find a treasure chest that was pleading to be found.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The little mage was faster than the heavily armored knight, and that was the only advantage he had to keep himself alive for as long as possible. Vaati ran around the perimeter of the room to prevent the Darknut from crushing him with the sword. It was stupid, he had to admit. If he kept this up for another hour he would be so tired the result would end up the same. He wasn't too keen to die at the immediate moment, however, so he kept running anyway.

Vaati stopped and caught his breath as the Darknut followed slowly. He needed to find a way to defeat the knight, but all he had was a boomerang and a useless rod. What to do?

_Okay_, he thought as he grabbed the Gale boomerang, _if this doesn't work, I'm back to running_.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link's breath came out in short gasps as he rested with his head against the central cog-wheel. He was on the fourth floor far away from the pen.

"Din's fire, I hate this sword," Link muttered. The pen had held hundreds of white spiders; apparently, the Master Sword had taken his fear of spiders into account when it had designed the final test. "And all I got for my trouble was a dumb stone weight," he said as he eyed the onyx statuette with disgust. He waited a few more minutes to calm down before he moved off to the next section of the dungeon.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati was running again. The Darknut's sword was too heavy to blow out of its hand, and anything else was blocked by its shield. He looked behind him at the knight. _Maybe I can do something about the armor_. Vaati turned around and waited for the dark knight to approach.

"So you've finally decided to stop running like a coward," the Darknut jeered. It brought up its sword and swung it down on Vaati. The knight was obviously playing with him; it purposely missed the mage.

Vaati didn't waste the chance that was given to him. He dashed around to the back of the knight and quickly cut away the bands that held the armor together with the blades of his boomerang.

"Ha, where did all your defenses go?" Vaati yelled over his back as he ran away to safety. He squeaked as a double-edged sword flew inches above his hat and impaled the wall behind him. There was a soft _whummmm_ as the sword wobbled in the wall. "Um…"

The Darknut now crouched with a slender, long blade. Without its armor, it could now move as fast, or even faster, than Vaati. The knight's voice dripped with menace, "Good. So you managed to remove my armor. Let's begin round two."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Link discovered that the little statuette had not, in fact, been useless. He had needed to use it on a floor switch to reach a room full of Armos which he defeated to obtain another key. Link was then able to use the key to open another door on the fourth floor, which the map indicated would lead him further into the dungeon.

The next room contained green crystals and moveable walls. Link needed to shoot the crystals with his arrows to slide the walls side to side until he managed to make it to the other side. He was about to open the door when he heard metallic footsteps following him. The Hero of Time turned around to come face to face with a heavily armored lizard monster.

"I just wish you guys would leave me alone," said Link as he readied himself for a lengthy fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati felt blood run down his face as he tried to shake himself out of his daze. His head throbbed from the impact it had suffered from slamming into the wall. "Ugh…"

Another kick and he was sent rolling across the floor holding his stomach. He coughed and found blood on his sleeve. Vaati tried to look up at his attacker and was dismayed to find not one, but four. His vision was blurred. The mage picked a random direction and feebly sent his boomerang flying towards what he hoped was the Darknut. All that came back was a mocking laugh.

"I was hoping you'd present more of a challenge. You hold the sacred Dominion Rod, and yet you turn out to be a pathetic coward." A sharp pain from his left arm. The cursed knight had slashed him with his sword. "I do not like to keep my victims in pain for too long. I shall put you out of your misery. Any last words?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link gingerly dabbed his right cheek where the armored lizard had managed to cut him. It had been pretty powerful, and Link began to worry for the mage. If Vaati had encountered something like that, he'd probably be dead or close to dying right now. Link hurried onward to the next room.

He stiffened when he saw the floor covered with spiders. He took a deep breath, and ran as fast as he could towards the stairs that led to the second floor. Link tried not to hear the more unlucky spiders splattering under his boots.

The upper floor was free of spiders. Instead, there were two statuettes that sat on either end of a scale, balancing it to create a pathway. Link would need to put more weights on the further scale if he wanted to cross. He went about looking for more statuettes.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati clenched his teeth. _Last words? LAST WORDS? Who did that knight take him for?_ "It's not over until I die, fool." He struggled to arm himself with the Dominion Rod as the boomerang had not returned. "Not yet…not until…I've breathed my last."

He heard a chuckle. "Very well. I won't keep you waiting."

Vaati braced himself for the Darknut to come at him. He gripped the Dominion Rod and stood up. It was then the mage noticed the rod glowing in the darkness, reacting to a bulky statue that stood behind him. His eyes caught the statue move slightly as he took a shaky step backwards.

The Darknut lunged with the sword aimed at Vaati's throat. At the same time, Vaati made a last ditch effort to fight back and swung the Dominion Rod down towards the knight.

_Crack!_

"Ha………ha…ha," Vaati laughed weakly as he saw the Darknut fall to the floor. The Dominion Rod had caused the statue to swing its hammer down onto the knight. But Vaati had also suffered a slash from the Darknut's sword across his side. His hands pressed against the wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

"Haha…I did it…I won………." It hurt to laugh, but everything seemed hilarious now. "Did you see that, my old _master_? No magic…none…………at all."

Vaati collapsed onto the floor as he held his bleeding side, laughing.

XXXXXXXXXX

Link made it across the scales and hurried through the dungeon. The map told him that he was close to a dead-end; a circular room with only one door to go in or out. He assumed it was where he'll have to fight one of the dungeon's more powerful monsters to receive something important.

Still, it was worrying he hadn't bumped into Vaati all this time. Link wondered what the mage was doing.

OXXXXXXXXXO

HEADS UP! I am going to be packing for an overseas move. That means I might get in 0-2 updates between today and tomorrow. I may or may not be back in a while...sorry. Back-to-school shopping is also going to start, so...yeah.

Vaati: So you're just going to leave me here bleeding to death?!

fleets: Um, probably. I'm sorry if you die during the wait...

Vaati: You can't do that. I'm part of the main cast...

fleets: ...sometimes, people have to know when their time is up

Vaati: I don't like what you're implying.

fleets: I'm not implying anything. Get back to dying and keep quiet.

**H-bomber**: No worries! Thanks for following this story!


	24. Memories before Darkness: Vaati

A.N.: I'm working to get as many updates in before I go on hiatus!

Disclaimer: see previous

**Chapter 24: Memories before Darkness – The Sorcerer's Past**

_I did it. Without magic. Master Ezlo, you old fool, did you see that?_ Vaati stared at the ceiling surrounded by his own blood. _See, I'm not weak…_

Weak.

That was one word he had come to despise more than anything.

"_Vatee? That's such a weird name."_

"_Lookit, his hair's a funny color."_

"_And long like a girl's! Hey Vatee, why do you grow it long like that?"_

"_Can he even see anything through that hair? He's a walking mop!"_

"_Eek! Red eyes! He's got the evil eye!"_

"_Run away!"_

"_Hey wait, let's play a game. We can play Monster Hunter! We'll be the hunters, and Vatee can be the monster. Vatee, do you want to play?"_

"_Great! Run off now, we'll come and hunt you."_

That old fool. He'd assured him that being different wasn't anything to be ashamed of, that he'd be able to fit in regardless of his strange appearance. What an idiot. The world didn't work in that happy perfect way.

"_Awww, he's down already."_

"_Vatee, come on, monsters are supposed to be vicious. Play your part."_

"_This is boring. It's no fun hunting a weak monster."_

"_Yeah, let's go play something else. Vatee, you'd better stay away."_

Vaati hadn't cared about the other kids his age when he had still been a Minish. He had thought that if he continued his studies with Master Ezlo, he would soon become a revered sage like him. That was one reason he kept his hair long. Revered sages didn't have short hair…

"_Master Ezlo, can you teach me how to do magic?"_

"_What?! No, you're too young, and the consequences that come with failing a spell can sometimes be dangerous. Read the books I've given you. When you finish, I might show you how to do a healing spell."_

"_But Master Ezlo, you gave me twenty volumes…"_

"_That's just how serious magic is. Go read now, I'm busy."_

Busy. Ha. All that old fart ever did was sleep. He woke up only to answer visitors, hastily pretending he had been going over ancient tomes. Vaati had been able to memorize the books so well he could recite entire chapters. He had expected some form of praise, but all the old master did was to tell him he was weak.

"_Master Ezlo, I've read the books you've given me. I even read some of the ones you didn't assign! I want to learn magic."_

"_No! It's too early. You could hurt yourself. You wouldn't be able to control it. I don't want a dead boy in my arms, Vaati."_

That was when he realized he had been waiting too long. Ezlo was never going to teach him anything. Apprentice? Son? Ha…more like servant.

Then one day, the big people wandered close to the Minish village. There were three men and a little girl. Two of them were holding her hostage, while the third was on his knees pleading them not to hurt his little girl. Vaati had been intrigued by the two men. They had seemed so unstoppable, so unlike him.

So powerful.

He'd been enchanted by the evil in the hearts of men ever since.

It was becoming more difficult to breathe. Vaati turned his head to the side. He could see his reflection in the Darknut's polished armor. The hat that had begun it all was caked with blood. Ezlo's greatest project. The hat that could grant any wish its wearer desired. Vaati let out a raspy laugh. He had shocked his master all right; the look on the old fool's face when he had taken the hat had been priceless.

Some foolish, childish part of him had hoped Ezlo would finally see that Vaati was capable of learning magic, that Ezlo would finally praise him and take him into apprenticeship. That he would accept him. It had angered him when the old man had eyed him with disdain. In Ezlo's eyes, Vaati had cheated his way towards power.

So he had turned him into a ridiculous hat. Vaati hadn't killed him because he had wanted his old master to see the show. He was going to demonstrate just how much he could do. Vaati let the old man watch in horror as he destroyed his childhood home.

"_Wait, wait. You're going through all this trouble to get ultimate power and you don't know why?"_

Stupid Link. Of course he knew why. With ultimate power, no one would ever be able to tell him he was weak. He would never have to live with the feeling that he was a failure.

Link. Every incarnation was as naïve and brainless as the last. The newest one had been the worst yet. Link could've left him to rot in Hyrule, to work in some cheap bar wiping the floors and serving drinks. He could've even killed Vaati on the spot when they had found out no one knew of his history. That stupid boy had even let him tag along after all the trouble he had caused him.

Why?

Vaati struggled to stay conscious. He could feel his pulse slowing.

_Maybe…maybe Link…am I supposed to call you a friend?_

Vaati laughed out loud before he grimaced and became lost in darkness. _Ha……what nonsense…………_

OXXXXXXXXXXO

**H-bomber: **Ummmm


	25. Biscuits

A.N.: So much for hiatus...I just couldn't leave this thing alone. Well, I now have something to distract myself from jetlag (cursed things). And wowieeeeee! Thanks for the fav Arkk!

**Chapter 25: Biscuits **

Link carefully opened the door to the ominous circular chamber depicted on the dungeon map. The first thing he noticed as he stepped into the room was an insanely broad and heavy sword stuck on the wall next to the door. Link caught his breath when he saw the Gale Boomerang lying on the floor with hints of blood on it. "…Vaati?" His eyes then uneasily searched the darkness; what they saw caused the color to drain from his face.

Pieces of armor were strewn around the room and a dead man was on the floor, his skull crushed to bits by some powerful impact. Next to that…… 'Vaati!"

Link ran over to the prone mage, even paler than usual. There was a puddle of blood around him and Link noticed a vicious gash along his side and arm. He wasn't breathing.

Link didn't waste his time thinking when he made a mad grab for his inventory bag and began to search frantically. _Come on, come on, come on._ He finally found a bottle of Red Potion he had stolen from Trill. The cork flew off with a loud pop and Link tried to force the unconscious, and perhaps dead, Vaati to drink it. _Come on, come on. _

He couldn't let him die like that. Just couldn't. Sure, he was a nasty person who was probably going to get the death penalty anyway, but Link just couldn't let someone who had adventured with him, helped him, die like that.

For a few minutes it seemed like nothing was going to happen, and Link almost accepted the fact that his enemy and traveling partner had gone to the next world. _Oh well, I guess it was for the good of Hyrule, _he thought a little sadly. Suddenly, there was a violent fit of coughing and Vaati's red eyes were open again. "What…?" There was a faint look of surprise before he fell back unconscious.

Link panicked, and then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the sorcerer had just fallen asleep from exhaustion. He wiped his brow. _I'm going to regret this later, huh. _A thousand thoughts were swimming in his head:

_What was I thinking? It was a reaction. No, it just would've been wrong to let him die like that. Didn't I try to kill him before? That was different. Really? Yeah. He's useless though. Not always. But he tries to kill me! But he never does. One day though, I'll be dead. But that's at the very end, not now, not for a while. _

Link flopped onto the floor and fell asleep. He was tired.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati woke up to the sound of munching. He felt like all hell was upon him, but at least he was alive. _Alive?_ He sat up abruptly only to fall down again in pain.

"Whoa there. You shouldn't move like that yet." Link was eating one of the biscuits the Oocca had given them before they left the City in the Sky. "I'm surprised you even recovered with only a Red Potion after that gash in your side."

Vaati frowned and the rolled over away from Link. He slowly lifted himself up, wincing occasionally. "Nayru, Din, and Farore, you're such an idiot, boy." The mage sounded flustered. "You're going to regret this. I'm going to make sure you regret this. I hope you know you're going to die because you saved me."

Link bit his biscuit. "Yeah. You're going to kill me later. I know. You've told me a bajillion times already."

Vaati rounded on Link, flinched in pain, and glared daggers at the smiling boy. "Don't be cocky, boy. You've forgotten what I can do." He grinned malevolently. "Without the Four Sword, nothing can stop me."

Link continued to eat. "Sure."

Vaati's eye twitched. "You'll see. I'll find all your little friends and kill them one by one as you watch helplessly. I'll make sure you hear every last one of their pathetic screams."

Link smiled and nodded. He had tuned the mage out; after a while, it was always the same thing.

The mage's voice was rising. "Your grandfather, how about him? Maybe I'll save him for last? Or wait, what about your dear little princess?"

Link perked up. He had finished his biscuit.

Vaati continued, "That's right, boy. Your dear Princess Zelda. Wouldn't it be a shame if something befell such a pretty little thing?"

The Hero of Time took out another biscuit.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?" irritation was mounting in Vaati's voice.

Link held up the biscuit. "Vaati, do you want to eat the last biscuit?"

Vaati furiously turned away and banged his fists into the wall in frustration. Link thought he could hear a muffled scream of rage.

"I'm sure you're hungry," Link pressed, ignoring the mage's fury.

"You're bloody hopeless…"

"It's pretty good."

"…"

"If you don't want it I'll eat it."

Vaati stared at the wall for a few minutes, turned on his heel, and snatched the biscuit out of Link's hand with a curt, "give me that." He then limped back over to the wall away from Link and sat down holding his wounded side glaring at the biscuit as angrily as he could. Vaati looked up in disgust when Link rolled over a bottle of Red Potion towards him.

"Don't look at me like that. I know you don't want help, but it'll stop the pain," Link motioned Vaati to take it. "It's the last one we stole from Trill's shop. We're not going to be able to get very far if you're still hurt."

"You mean the one _you_ stole," Vaati muttered, but he took the potion anyway. The mage sat silently lost in his own thoughts after he emptied the bottle. "Why the goddesses did you keep me alive?" He asked, his voice a strained whisper.

Link shrugged. "I dunno. I've already asked myself that and I can't think of any good logical answer." He wiped the crumbs off of his face with his sleeve. "Let's get going then, yeah?" Link tossed the boomerang over to Vaati who had finally decided to nibble on the biscuit. The mage promptly caught it and began to twirl it absent mindedly on his fingers. As Link moved towards the door, he was stopped by an embarrassed cough.

"Link?"

Link turned around to see the mage who appeared to be suddenly fascinated by the chamber floor. Vaati was twirling his boomerang again; something Link noticed the sorcerer did when he was feeling agitated.

"Uh………thanks."

Link scratched his head. "It was only the right thing to do."

Vaati narrowed his eyes as he looked up sharply. "Do you seriously believe that?"

Link nodded. "Yeah. I mean, the Oocca gave us two biscuits so that means we each get one."

"Not the biscuits, dimwit!"

There was an awkward silence before Link spoke up."Oh. You mean the whole saving you from death thing?" Link watched Vaati twirling his boomerang at a frightful speed before he answered. "Well, same answer then. It was only the right thing to do." Vaati didn't look all that satisfied, but he said nothing and made for the door, waving the dominion rod towards the enchanted statue to make it follow him. Link grinned, "You know, I never would have thought I'd hear a 'thank you' from you."

Vaati snorted, "Well you know what? I never would have thought you were stupid enough to save someone who wants you dead." The boomerang kept spinning. "Let's go finish this test then. I hate this place."

Link continued to grin as he walked out the door after the wind mage who was still twirling his boomerang furiously.

XXXXXXXXX

"So what's the story?" Link pointed towards the huge marble statue that was hopping after them, mirroring Vaati's every move. "What exactly happened after you disappeared under the bell?"

Vaati swung the dominion rod and caused the statue to swing its enormous hammer down onto a pair of gold rimmed gates that were blocking their path. Link jumped back in surprise. "A Darknut challenged me to a duel thinking I was the Hero of Time." A Dinalfos, an armored lizard monster, was flattened by Vaati's statue. "I managed to crush it with this thing, but not before I was stabbed, unfortunately." Another swing and another monster was pressed flat. "I must say it was rather annoying." Swing, wham, squish.

Link followed Vaati and the statue carefully, keen to avoid being turned into a new part of the floor. "I didn't see any other route we could go to besides the jammed door in the first chamber," Link ran around to avoid the rubble falling from the now shattered wall, "we have to try to get through there."

Vaati stopped, the statue stopping with him. "I think this statue will help us through." He eyed a bell in the room that was similar to the one he had first used to warp to the Darknut's chamber. "I wonder…"

Link watched uneasily as Vaati moved under the bell with the Dominion Rod and the statue. "Remember what happened last time you did that?"

The rod and the bell glowed green. "Hmph. Walking is too slow. This might take me somewhere closer to where we need to go."

Link ran over to the bell, but Vaati stopped him. "What? Let me go too!"

"You won't fit. I'm taking this statue with me; it's a lot more useful than you." Vaati looked smug, "Bye Link. You'd better hurry up and start running to catch up."

Link sighed as the mage and the statue warped away to some other location in the dungeon. "He never learns…." He opened the door to the next room. Actually, if Vaati _did_ ever learn from mistakes, the sorcerer wouldn't have had three histories of being defeated by a boy clad in green named Link wielding the Four Sword. Vaati's vanity, laziness, or the combination of both had been the reason why Hyrule was kept relatively safe over the centuries.

Link stood frozen by the door as he observed the next room, unsure what to make of it. Everything was a mess, as though someone had set off a bunch of bombs at once. A trail of flattened monsters made its way towards another bell. Link could only guess who the culprit was, and what had occurred.

He continued down the stairs moving through each room, passing by pressed monsters along the way. The damage became worse as he continued. It seemed whoever was responsible was becoming more frustrated with every room.

When he finally arrived at the first chamber, he saw Vaati standing irritably by the central bell. The mage glanced towards Link, his hair a gnarled mess with bits of plaster caught between strands. "Took you long enough," he spat.

Link chuckled. "Warping didn't go quite the way you thought it would, did it?"

"Quiet. You made me wait."

"Sure, sure, by what, a minute? You blasted your way through every room."

"I was still faster."

"Good thing I walked. Otherwise, I might have caught up to you and that would've ruined your exit."

Vaati scowled and turned towards the jammed door, cape spiraling behind him. "The door's open now, stop wasting time." He waved a hand at the statue that now stood beside the door, acting as an activation key.

Link and Vaati opened the door and made their way to the final segment of the Temple of Time. It hadn't taken too long until they were back to the arguing pair they used to be.

OXXXXXXXXXO

**H-bomber:** Ok, so I couldn't quite kill him...yet...without having to rewrite the entire ending. Calm, stay calm ;)

**Reily96:** Kids. The things they say when the adults are gone are sometimes shocking...

--


	26. The Armogohma

A.N.: Probably the last dungeon chapter in a while. They're tough to write... I have to keep looking them up on wiki.

**Chapter 26: The Armogohma**

"What's so funny?" Vaati glared at the snickering Link as he tried to see where his cape had ripped. They had just made it across a room full of swinging axes and the purple cape had caused some problems for Vaati.

"Nothing. Just get yourself a mirror and you'll see what I mean," Link said, stifling a laugh. Vaati looked like something the garbage bin threw up. His clothes were splotched red from his earlier bleeding, and some bits were flaking off brown after the blood had dried. His tunic was cut in half where the Darknut's sword had slashed him, and the sleeves weren't the same lengths anymore. His silvery hair was dusty with plaster and there were hints of split ends. Bits of biscuit crumbs were still stuck around the collar; Vaati wasn't someone you'd call a messy eater, but he had been too agitated to care back in the Darknut's chamber.

Vaati growled and attempted to look as respectable as he could by rearranging his hat and brushing off stray crumbs.

Link continued to snicker. "Don't even bother; I think we're at the boss room," Link took out the Big Key from his pouch and fitted it to the gigantic lock that chained the door close. The lock fell to the floor with a loud clank and magically disappeared.

Just like in the Diababa's lair, the door closed shut on its own as soon as they stepped into the darkened room. Statues that were similar to the one Vaati had used lined the walls, each one holding powerful fists in the air. Vaati took out his dominion rod, and sure enough, it began to glow.

Link chanced a whisper, "I don't see anything here."

Vaati immediately looked up at the ceiling; now it was his turn to snicker.

"What's so funny?" Link asked, frowning.

"Nothing." Vaati gave him a wicked grin. "Your sword knows you well."

Link slowly looked up, and he suddenly felt sick. Up above them was the biggest spider Hyrule had ever spawned. It was watching them carefully with red Cyclops eyes.

Vaati seemed amused by Link's horrified expression. "I'd say it's a variation of a Gohma. I've made you fight them before, and I don't remember them giving you problems." He continued casually, "Well, I suppose my Gohmas were more crablike. Next time, I'll be sure to send over spiders."

Link whimpered and backed against the locked door. "Din's fire, I _really_ hate this sword."

The Gohma appeared curious more than anything, and the two watched it wondering if it was ever going to attack them. Link exhaled, and inched away from under the spider, his back hugging the wall as he made his way towards one of the statues. Link's sudden movement caused the spider to stir, and Vaati's amused expression became serious.

"I think it's hungry."

_Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!_

"Yikes!" Link leaped away from the laser that burned the floor where he had stood. The tiles were glowing crimson from the heat of the blast.

Vaati nodded to himself, "That's a Gohma. I'm pretty sure of it now." He moved out of the way of Link who was running away from the laser that was following him. The beam from the Gohma had lit up the room with a cozy orange light. "Link! Keep it up! I'm going to check something." Vaati yelled over.

Link was too busy avoiding the beam to answer, but he managed to shoot a glare towards the mage who wasn't being very helpful. He skidded and fell when an enormous stone fist came crashing down in front of him. Link rolled out of the way of the laser and continued to run, but not before noticing Vaati with the Dominion Rod standing next to the fist.

"What was that for?!" Link raged. "Kill me after this, all right?"

"Sorry," said Vaati, not sounding apologetic at all. The mage waved the Dominion rod and the fist came back up. "Interesting."

Link scowled, dashed towards the surprised mage, and pushed him into the laser's path. "It's your turn to run. You can play with your statues later." Vaati frantically scrambled away from the laser who was now following him instead. His face was full of nasty. "Run to the other side, I'll get it with the bow." Vaati scowled even more. The mage didn't like getting orders from the boy.

"Just hurry up."

Link expertly knocked the bow, pulled it back, and released. The arrow hit the Gohma right in the eye, causing it to come toppling down from the ceiling in astonishment and pain.

"Skreeeeee!" The enormous spider writhed and flailed its legs trying to right itself. Vaati came scurrying out under one of the legs, getting his hat knocked off his head in the process. He stormed over to Link, took one look at the Gohma that was now back on its legs, and shoved Link towards the blind monster.

"Your turn," he seethed, as he moved over to one of the statues and activated it with the Dominion Rod. Link gripped the Master Sword and was preparing to run when Vaati stopped him. "Wait, let it come over here." He cocked his head towards the statue.

Link looked uncertainly at the Gohma that seemed to be able to know where he was even though it had lost its eye. "Can't you just slam it when it runs past?" He kept his gaze on the monster that was approaching.

"No. If you run, it'll run after you. If you're still, then it won't run. Running monsters are harder to hit, you know," Vaati said with a sarcastic edge. He gave Link a smile that was too happy to be sincere, "Trust me. See, we're going to clear the third criteria of trusting each other."

Link gulped as the Gohma continued to close the gap between them.

"Don't you dare move, Link."

Link could see the poison dipped fangs. Just a little closer and he could probably count the hairs around its head.

"Move and die, Link."

Link could see the intricate symbols around the armored part of the Gohma's eye.

"Skreeeeeeee!"

_Slam!_

Link stood shaking with nervousness.

"Hmph. Does your sword feel any different now?" Vaati asked as he watched the twitching spider curl over.

Link finally found his voice. "More…more spiders." Where the gigantic Gohma had been, there were now hundreds of tiny white spiders surrounding a red one that had an arrow coming out of its back. The Gohma hadn't been one entity, but hundreds.

Vaati sighed and obliterated the mass with one swipe of the Dominion Rod. Link cringed in disgust at the sight of lots of squished spiders. "You're pitiful when it comes to spiders, boy," Vaati said with disdain as he hurried over to retrieve his hat.

Without warning, the Master Sword suddenly gleamed with a blinding white light.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link brought his arms down from his face as the light disappeared. They were no longer in the Temple of Time, but in the Ordon Springs close to Ordon village. Vaati was busy observing his reflection in the pool. His clothes were good as new, and the mage fingered the brim of his restored hat in satisfaction.

Link unsheathed his sword and swung it a couple of times. It felt more comfortable now, and had lost the hostility it had given off before whenever he had held it. "I think we passed," he finally stated.

Vaati looked up, "Oh good. Let's go greet Ganondorf then."

Link nodded solemnly, filled the two empty bottles with fresh water, and followed Vaati back towards the walk to Hyrule Castle. He tried to prepare himself for what was to come.

OXXXXXXXXO

**Reily96: **Teehee, I love Vaati! Ain't he cute? (cough) Ahem. Sorry, that was random. :P

**H-bomber: **Will Vaati live? Will he die? Will he survive for another chapter? Will Link? Will Ganondorf? Will anybody?? Will everybody survive? Will Link and Ganondorf turn into best buddies? Will Vaati discover he is the last Jedi? Will I abuse my author powers? The answer is...! A surprise for the ending.

But yes to the last one. Just kidding. Oh I'm terrible when I'm hyper. Don't worry about the "yet", nobody knows what it means. XD

--


	27. Ganondorf

A.N.: Wow guys...I'm stunned. You really review fast! I love you all :D, and thanks!

**Chapter 27: Ganondorf**

Link was surprised by the transformation of Hyrule from a lively, thriving castle town to a dismal, sinister one. A dark cloud overshadowed Hyrule castle and monsters were prowling around the gates instead of the usual guards.

"It seems Ganondorf decided to redecorate while we were gone," Vaati said flatly from behind the rock cliff they were hiding behind.

Link clenched his fists in anger, "Everyone better be all right."

Vaati shook his head. "Well, if he thinks like I do, then he'll probably scare everyone to death by letting the monsters roam around the town for the first several weeks. The townsfolk will usually be smart enough to lock themselves up in their houses. After a while, it'll get so boring he might order some monsters to break into a couple of houses and kill them. Maybe one family a week to increase the psychological torture."

Link was staring at Vaati wide-eyed in shock.

Vaati continued in a dreary monotone. "The guards inside though, again, if he thinks like me, he'll probably kill on the spot to shut them up. You know, they can get so awfully screechy and annoying you can't help but make them quiet for good. When all the townsfolk are gone, he might let the monsters just obliterate each other in team battles. Kind of like survival tag, except you die if you lose. That also gets pretty boring once most of your monsters start disappearing."

"……you're sick."

Vaati snapped up, startled. "I'm just thinking about what Ganondorf might do."

Link continued to stare. "Yeah, except you said that's how you think. Some of the things you sounded like you've already done."

"You can't be an evil dictator without exercising your power," Vaati said severely, trying to defend himself, "and besides, I never actually got around to doing most of all that because some annoying little brat like you kept stopping me."

"I was stupid to begin thinking you might not be that bad," Link said, still in shock.

Vaati scoffed. "That's the problem with you, boy. You think everything is pink and fluffy and nice." He watched a Kargaroc fly over the Hyrule gates thoughtfully. "Link, what's your idea on getting us into the castle?"

Link was fiddling with the Master Sword. "I don't really have one. Um…walk in?"

The mage let out a sigh, "That's right, I forgot. You like waltzing into fortresses without thinking. What I can never understand is how you always manage to survive."

"It can't be that bad of an idea if I never seem to die," Link countered.

"I happen to be an expert in near death experiences. I don't want another one of those because of a dumb idea by my worst enemy," Vaati snapped. "I have a better one. Go find two Kargarocs and I'll show you what we'll do."

XXXXXXXXX

A while later…

"I said TWO Kargarocs, you fool! Not an entire flock!"

"I couldn't help it! They won't stop following me!' Link yelled as he hurried away from the flying mass that had chased him back to Vaati. He shot one down with an arrow and continued to run. Vaati threw his boomerang toward the Kargarocs so they became dazed.

"Ok Link, pick two that look like strong fliers and get rid of the rest."

Link hastily defeated all but two of the monsters. He didn't want to run anymore.

Vaati threw his boomerang again to keep the two from regaining their senses. "Hop on. Hurry before it wakes up," Vaati said as he straddled one of the Kargarocs.

"This is your idea……?" Link asked in disbelief. "They might not follow orders," he said, but followed suit after Vaati gave him a fierce look that told him to stop whining.

"We _make_ them listen. Link, you're not to be nice." Vaati put his hands around the monster's neck as it began to thrash about. He forcefully wrenched its neck straight and jerked it upwards so he could see its eyes. The Kargaroc understood the mage meant business.

Link tried to copy Vaati, but he couldn't make himself look angry enough to force his Kargaroc calm down. In the end, he had to resort to putting the edge of his sword against its head to keep the monster from throwing him off.

"Good. Now let's see how they fly." Vaati gave a sharp tug on his Kargaroc's neck but it didn't budge. He glowered, "If you don't take us over the castle, I'm going to order Link here to drive his sword through your skull. Now get going."

Link wasn't sure whether the Kargaroc understood what Vaati had said, but the mage's voice was menacing enough that the monster took to the air. Link gave a much gentler nudge to get his bird flying. _See, being nice works_, Link thought bitterly.

They flew above the castle gates high enough so the arrows from the sentries posted around on the walls wouldn't reach them. Link noticed he could steer the monster by small taps against its neck. He was thrilled at this discovery, but then became worried as he looked down at all the tiny roofs far below his feet. "Um, Vaati? How are we going to get down?"

Only the sounds of beating wings filled the silence in the air.

"You didn't think that far, did you…"

Vaati angrily turned around. "I'm thinking, all right?! You think too!"

"What do you mean, 'you think too'?! I thought you knew what you were getting us into!"

"Shut up, Link! It's not like your idea was any better!"

"At least mine would've gotten us into the town!"

"Where we obviously would've died!"

"I never die!"

"And that's what drives me insane!"

"That's off topic! Don't confuse me!"

They continued to bicker. The pair failed to notice their noise was attracting a group of Kargarocs roosting on the castle rooftops. Their airborne mounts made a sharp turn towards the castle roofs to greet their friends on the roof.

Vaati was the first to realize what his Kargaroc was trying to do. "Link, get ready to jump off. We won't get another chance."

"– even know why I listened to you! You're such a –"

"For the love of Nayru just SHUT UP! We're going to get off!"

Vaati swung the Gale Boomerang towards the flock of Kargarocs on the roof to keep them away from him as he jumped onto the castle roof. Link jumped after him, still grumbling.

They ran across the tiles, being careful not to slip off the side and made it to the window of the castle's highest tower. They fell onto the stairway, and stopped to catch their breath as they made sure none of the monsters were following them. Vaati rubbed his elbow where he had hit it during the fall onto the stairs. "See, my plan was better."

Link stuck out his tongue, "Only by pure luck."

"………that is really immature."

"I might look like I'm over eighteen right now but don't forget I was only eleven when this started. I'm _allowed_ to be immature."

"Strange, I thought you were more like six."

"Says the one who's over a hundred and is shorter than me."

"I am _not_ shorter than you!"

"Do you want to test your theory? Line up, I'll show you I'm taller."

"…Why should I waste time on such idiocy? Forget it, we've got better things to do."

"You're just scared you'll find out you're short."

"Fine, if you're taller I'll just chop off your head to prove my point. Now let's go."

As soon as Vaati and Link stood up to leave, a portal appeared before them and pulled them through before they had any time to wonder what was going on.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati was disoriented. He had been standing on a set of stairs only a few seconds ago, and now he was on his knees touching velvet red carpet. It took a moment to realize he was in the throne room of Hyrule castle. Vaati turned his head towards Link who was as rigid as stone and was staring straight ahead, trying to control his rage. Maniacal laughter caused the mage's head to snap up.

Vaati narrowed his eyes. _Ganondorf._

OXXXXXXXXO

fleets: I'm beginning to think Vaati's suffering from the Napoleon complex... :P.

**Reily96: **Triforce of Courage my bum, the kid had to be scared of something, right? XD

**H-bomber: **Ack! No no, I won't have my readers apologizing to me! Nah, I was just trying to show you how silly I was - never take me seriously :P. But Vaati should watch his back, hehehe (Vaati: "Stop the mind games! Don't make me paranoid!").

**Evil Riggs:** Not sure if you've gotten this far yet, but, thanks for the advice and the review!

**Peka the Corsair: **Look! Look! Update! Thanks for r&ring :D


	28. The Ocean Breeze

A.N.: The following chapter doesn't have too much humor, so let me make it up by telling you why I'm posting this early. I was in the bathroom trying to fix the septic tank all by my klutzy self (I dunno why...now that I think about it) and succeeded in dropping the entire lid into the septic tank. The lid hit a little hose that started spouting water everywhere.  
I'm drenched. And mom's more than a tad upset that I created indoor rain. Apparently, she didn't find it funny like I did, so I had to run away to my room.  
That's why this chapter is ready for ya's. I'm holed up in my room until mom's not so angry about the wet bathroom.

**Chapter 28: The Ocean Breeze**

"You two were causing quite a disturbance up on the rooftops. I take it you wanted to see me?" Ganondorf rose from the throne, the corners of his mouth curling into a sneer. He seemed relaxed and commanding. "So, you've discovered quite a change in Hyrule, yes? Do you want to know why I've kept it this way?"

Vaati looked around the room and finally saw what was making Link so angry. Princess Zelda was trapped in a prism next to the throne, above where Opal stood.

"You see, I was also surprised my pet had completely converted the Hyrule we knew to the Hyrule in the future. I was not very pleased," he grinned with malice, "until I learned something about you, Link."

"What?" Link fumed. He was glaring at Ganondorf, but his eyes continued to wander over to Princess Zelda.

"The girl has assured me that if I get rid of you in this era, then I would be able to put a stop to the reincarnation cycle. In effect, I would be getting rid of both your future and your past, leaving you with nothing left." The Gerudo laughed, "The little mage would be pleased to learn that if I kill you now, boy, he will never have to face another reincarnation of you. Vaati, I expect you to repay my services of destroying both the Four Sword and Link for you someday"

Vaati was too busy trying to see what Opal was doing in the corner to respond. Something was wrong with the possessed girl, and he was afraid to find out what.

Link was at the end of his patience, and he was about to make a running stab towards the evil King when a fish flopped onto the floor in front of him. He skewered it with his sword and snarled at Ganondorf, who seemed surprised at the sudden appearance of a fish. "A fish? Is this a game to you? I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to Hyrule…and Princess Zelda."

A sharp voice broke through the tension, and it rose higher in pitch as panic increased. "Lord Ganon! I can't control it, I'm losing…I'm losing control!" Opal's hands were trembling and beads of sweat rolled off of her forehead, her yellow possessed eyes widening in shock. Vaati became nervous as a purple shark blipped into existence next to him and began to flail about.

"Link…something tells me we might want to come back another time…" the mage was staring at the possessed girl who was frantically trying to close a growing portal. The portal that had warped them was now threatening to swallow everything up.

Ganondorf recovered from surprise and commenced yelling angrily at Opal. "Fool, what are you doing? I order you to stop this, NOW!"

The girl whimpered, "I can't…I can't…Lord Ganon, I _can't_."

Vaati grabbed Link's arm and pulled him towards the gates leading outside the throne room. "We're leaving, Link."

Link growled and forced the mage to let him go. "I'm not leaving without Zelda, and I'm not leaving until I finish what I came here to do."

"Stupid boy, you don't know what's going to happen with _her_ around!" Vaati pulled Link again, and this time, Link dropped his angry tone as he saw water begin to swirl around his boots.

"What?" Link asked bewildered by the water that was steadily rising.

"Come on." Vaati gave another tug, and this time, Link followed.

They heard a scream of rage before water came roaring into Hyrule, flooding the entire region. Link and Vaati blacked out as they were swamped by hundreds of tons of water.

XXXXXXXX

A jet of blue flame escaped her jaws as she bared her teeth in a snarl. Opal shook her head to get rid of whatever water was left on her face, the chains around her neck rattling. Lord Ganon had not been too pleased she had let Link and Vaati escape, and he had been absolutely furious when he found out she had also flooded Hyrule. He also raged about a splitting headache that had occurred during the appearance switch. Lord Ganon claimed it was what being pierced by the Master Sword would feel like.

The only thing he was remotely pleased about was that she had been able to remove the water around Hyrule castle…remotely pleased, because they were still miles underwater in a small air bubble that kept them from drowning.

The beast hissed as another slash hit across its claws. _Claws_._ Oh no._

Opal's Hylian identity became horrified at the sight of claws, and nearly became hysterical when she realized her Hylian identity was slowly disappearing. _No, no, no._ She'd never lost this much control before; it was probably because she was possessed. One body can't have three minds in it at once before losing it.

Another slash, this time across the neck. Opal roared in retaliation only to receive another lash across the eyes.

Three minds. One, the Hylian. Two, Ganondorf's possessed pet. Three, the one she'd left behind all these years. The Hylian had thought she had conquered the third one, but now she realized it had only been waiting to resurface. The arrival of the second personality had made it incredibly easy for the third to come back.

The Hylian thought of Vaati and Link. She had sent them far above the water, hoping that they wouldn't attempt to find Hyrule again. _I don't want to have to kill you_, she thought as the other two darker personalities pushed her to the further recesses of her mind, _please…be safe._

She could hear another monstrous roar that she knew too well was her own.

XXXXXXXXX

Ganondorf took a walk around Hyrule castle after he had given the girl a good lashing. Well, 'girl' might be the wrong word now. More like beast. He reached out and touched the wall of water that outlined the perimeters of the castle grounds and some portions of Hyrule field. His fists came together in frustration, and then kneaded his head where it still felt like something had stabbed him. He punched the wall of water.

He couldn't kill the beast without jeopardizing his ability to go back to his era where Hyrule existed as Hyrule. He also didn't want to order the beast to take them back in time without risking another mistake like the one they now found themselves in.

Ganondorf looked up to see the water bending the light above them. He'll wait for Link and Vaati to come; they were sure to come looking for him. After they were destroyed, he would make Opal take him back to a Link-less past, and then kill her as well to punish her for all the trouble she had caused him.

He grinned. At least he still had Zelda. He was so close, so close to ending everything and finally obtaining all three pieces of the Triforce he couldn't let the opportunity slip through his fingers. Ganondorf leaned against a marble pillar.

He could be patient if he wanted to.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link and Vaati sat next to each other, watching the waves roll over their feet dismally. They had been like this for the past hour, sitting in silence, counting each wave as it lapped against the stone walkway they had woken up on.

Finally, Vaati smiled weakly. "What a future, huh?"

"Hm?" Link continued to stare blankly at the endless blue. He thought about Hyrule; the market place where he would buy apples with his allowance, the maids at the castle who would occasionally give him an early lunch, working with his grandpa to complete a new sword, playing with Zelda. Hyrule had gone below the watery depths, and he wasn't sure if he'll ever see it again.

Vaati uncharacteristically attempted to cheer them up, "At least we're back to normal. See, we look exactly like how we had been back in the past. Not that I particularly minded being tall for once."

Link just sat in misery. If Vaati was trying to be cheery, it could only mean that the situation was so bleak even the mage had to find ways to make it seem bearable.

Vaati became thoughtful as he looked towards the horizon. "I've always wanted to see the ocean. I never imagined it to be so vast…." His voice contained awe, but it cracked in some parts as though he were forcing himself to keep talking. "I wonder if anything's out there."

Link sighed and stood up, walked around the edge of an impressive stone tower they were currently on, came back to where he had been sitting, and flopped morosely back down next to the mage. "What's the point?" He asked, as he put his head between his knees. "Everything's gone, Opal may have died, and we may never get back. What's the point?" Link looked up. "And if Zelda died, then she'll never come back in any incarnation. I'll never see her again."

Vaati splashed some water with his feet. "It's not over yet, boy. Hyrule still exists, I'm sure of it," he said quietly, "and we just have to go find it."

OXXXXXXXXXO

IMPORTANT: Ok, firstly, I'm sorry the epic fight didn't occur in this chapter. This story is far from over. That said, I'm going to move the Wind Waker portion to a different story. Otherwise, we'll end up with an intimidating number of chapters that could scare people away.

Keep your eyes open for a new story. I think it's going to be called Beyond Centuries: Hero of Time, Hero of Wind. I'll pick up where we left off :).

**H-bomber:** Thanks for being a regular here! And I'm sorry the epic battle had to wait...I'm planning on moving to WW :)

**Reily96: **Yay! I hope the WW half will be even better.

**Peka the Corsair: **Kinda. It's specifically targeted towards shorter people, who are, according to the complex, more temperamental. _Nods_ Yup, poor Vaati's one of the few villains in the Zeldaverse that's as short or shorter than Link. :3


End file.
